Etymologically
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impazzire

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Pronunciation

  • /im.patˈt͡si.re/[1]

Forms

impazzire (first-person singular present impazzìsco, first-person singular past historic impazzìi, past participle impazzìto, auxiliary èssere)[1] Old forms include impascire, ’mpascire, empazzire and ’mpazzire.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed in Italian from pazzo (“mad”), from Italian in- + pazzo + -ire, with the prefix of movement into a state, like impazzare beside it.[4][5][3][1] Devoto–Oli takes the prefix as in- of the same kind.[6] Alfredo Petrocchi noted in 1887 that “impazzire” was the common word for the illness, “impazzare” the emphatic and figurative one.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is an anonymous 13th-century poem from Urbino.[2] DELI's first date is Jacopone da Todi, before 1306, in the form ’mpascire, with the sense “to go mad”; the form impazzire follows in a 14th-century translation of St Augustine.[4][3]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the verb meant to lose one's reason, to lose patience and act rashly, of animals to bolt in a sudden fit, and, with the love of God or a passion, to be carried away; it could also be transitive, “to drive mad”.[2] Antonio Fileremo Fregoso has the sense “to be overwhelmed by a passion” in 1510, and Petrocchi in 1887 “to lose one's head over a hard or tedious job”.[4]

Southern Italian dialects and regional Italian use a pronominal impazzirsi, recorded from the 18th century.[4][7] In modern Italian the verb is used hyperbolically for strong feelings and passions (impazzire di gioia, da impazzire “terribly, madly”), for a sauce such as mayonnaise that curdles, and for instruments that go haywire.[3][7][1]

Timeline

  • 13th century – An anonymous poem from Urbino has the first record.[2]
  • Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi uses ’mpascire.[4]
  • 14th century – Impazzire appears in a translation of St Augustine.[4]
  • 1510 – Antonio Fileremo Fregoso uses it for being carried away by passion.[4]
  • Before 1770 – The pronominal impazzirsi is recorded.[4]
  • 1887 – Petrocchi records the sense “to lose one's head over a task”.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive, auxiliary essere) To go mad, lose one's reason: Dopo la guerra il poveretto impazzì.[3][6][7]
  2. (hyperbolic) To behave absurdly: Ma sei impazzito a guidare così?[3][6][7]
  3. (figurative) To lose one's patience or self-control: Questo rumore mi fa impazzire.[3][6][7]
  4. (figurative) To be beside oneself with a feeling or a pain: impazzire di gelosia, impazzire dal mal di denti.[3][7]
  5. (figurative) To be crazy about someone or something: Mia figlia impazzisce per i cavalli.[3][6][7]
  6. (figurative) To rack one's brains over a difficult task: Siamo impazziti per trovare l'errore.[3][7]
  7. Of an instrument or device, to go haywire; of a market or the weather, to behave erratically.[3][7][1]
  8. (cooking) Of a sauce such as mayonnaise, to curdle.[7][1]

Word family

  • impazzimento
  • rimpazzire

Usage notes

Da impazzire is used as an intensifier, “madly, terribly”: è buono da impazzire.[3][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse