gorgo

Forms

gorgo m (plural gorghi)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *gurgus, a Late Latin form recorded in the 6th-century Latin Oribasius, which replaced classical Latin gurges (“whirlpool, abyss”).^[2][3][4][1] The form Medieval Latin corgum is recorded at Bologna in 1259.^[2] The same word is Old French gort, Occitan gorc and Catalan gorc, and it is well represented in the Italian dialects.^[5][4][3]

The Latin word may be a reduplicated form of the root Proto-Indo-European *gʷerh₃- (“to devour, swallow”), which also gave vorō (“to devour”), though the morphology is unclear.^[6][7][1] Nocentini links the same family with gorgheggiare, gorgia and gorgogliare, and with Ancient Greek βάραθρον (bárathron, “abyss”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini and GRADIT date the word before 1313.^[4][8] In Dante's Inferno the poet hears il gorgo below him on the right making a fearful roar, where the falling water swirls.^[9][2] DELI gives the first sense as the spot where the bed of a river drops and forms a hollow, with gorghi also in the 14th-century Italian Bible.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian gorgo named the deepest point of a body of water, where an eddy forms, then also a chasm, a fast-flowing stream, a marsh and, in fishing, a fishpond.^[10] The ordinary modern sense, the whirlpool itself, is explained by Vincenzo Borghini before 1580: the Arno, turning at a bend, made a deep hole “which we usually call gorgo”.^[2][9] Petrarch's corrente e chiaro gorgo (the Rhône) shows the poetic sense “river”.^[8][11]

Figuratively a gorgo is a force that drags one under, a moral abyss or a whirl of passions.^[8][12][13] Montale wrote of not throwing le nostre vite randagie into un gorgo senza fondo.^[14] Derivatives include ingorgare and ingorgo (16th century) and sgorgare and sgorgo (14th century).^[4]

Timeline

• 1259 – Medieval Latin corgum is recorded at Bologna.^[2]
• Before 1313 – Dante uses gorgo in the Inferno.^[4][8][9]
• 1300s – gorghi appear in the Italian Bible translation, and sgorgare is first recorded.^[2][4]
• Before 1580 – Vincenzo Borghini explains gorgo as the eddy at a bend of the Arno.^[2]
• 1500s – ingorgare and ingorgo are first recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A whirlpool or eddy, formed where the bed of a river or stream suddenly becomes deeper; also the deep spot itself: la barca fu risucchiata dal gorgo.^[8][12][11]
2. (figurative) A vortex, a force that drags one down: il gorgo dei debiti.^[8][12][13]
3. (literary) A river, a watercourse.^[8][12][11]

Word family

• ingorgare
• ingorgo
• sgorgare
• sgorgo
• disgorgare
• gorghetto
• gorgoso

Related words

• gorgogliare
• gorgheggiare
• gorgia
• ingurgitare
• rigurgitare
• vorace
• Latin gurges

Usage notes

Zingarelli distinguishes gorgo from mulinello, the everyday word for a whirl of water.^[14] A whirl of air is a vortice.^[14] The TLIO's earliest text, the Florentine Mare amoroso (13th century), uses gorgo for a fantastic sea creature.^[10][15] GDLI treats that word separately and calls its origin uncertain.^[10][15]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1847
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 985