furioso

Forms

furioso (feminine furiosa, masculine plural furiosi, feminine plural furiose)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin furiōsus (“raging, mad”), from furia (“fury, madness”) with the suffix -ōsus.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The popular outcome of the Latin word is foioso (“lustful”), an Old Italian word, from which foia was formed.^[6][7] The same Latin word gave French furieux, recorded about 1290.^[6]

The Latin noun furia is from furō (“to rave, be mad”), whose own origin is unclear: de Vaan finds none of the many proposals clearly the best.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Storia de Troia e de Roma (1252–1258), in the dialect of Rome;^[9][2] DELI's first is Bono Giamboni, before 1292.^[9][2] In both the word describes a person who behaves violently and without control because of rage or a hot temper.^[9][2]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian furioso also meant “insane” and described raging storms, wild animals and anything that drives people to violence; it could also mean over-hasty.^[9] Iacopone da Todi (before 1306) used it for “agitated, tumultuous”.^[2] The Orlando furioso is Roland driven mad by love.^[10][11] Tommaseo separated furioso, said of madness or of a lasting violence of temper, from furibondo, the outward fit of rage.^[12]

In music furioso is recorded from 1649, for a passage played with frenzy.^[13] It passed into German in 1732, English in 1823 and French in 1836;^[13] English already had furioso for a furious person before 1670.^[13]

Timeline

• 1252–1258 – The Storia de Troia e de Roma has the word.^[9]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for “seized by rage”.^[2]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses it for “agitated, tumultuous”.^[2]
• 1649 – The musical term is recorded.^[13]
• Before 1670 – English furioso “a furious person” is recorded.^[13]
• 1732 – German takes the musical term.^[13]
• 1823 – English uses furioso in music.^[13]
• 1836 – French takes the musical term.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Furious, beside oneself with anger: Quando ha visto la multa era furioso.^[4][10][11]
2. Showing frenzy from mental illness: un pazzo furioso.^[4][10]
3. Of an animal: wild and aggressive: un cane furioso.^[4][10]
4. Of a gesture or look: expressing rage.^[4][10]
5. Of a feeling: violent, vehement: una gelosia furiosa.^[4][14]
6. Happening with great violence: una furiosa tempesta di neve.^[4][11][14]
7. (music) Played with frenzy and agitation.^[13]

Noun

1. (dated) A violently insane person.^[4][15]

Word family

• furiosamente
• furiosità

Related words

• furia
• furore
• furibondo
• foia
• Latin furiōsus

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1738
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
10. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c d e f g h i Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
14. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana