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incendio

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word incendio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
13th century, Cronica fiorentina
Borrowed from
Latin incendium
Ultimate origin
Latin candeō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin incendium
Italian incendio
From the same root
Latin incendiarius ← incendium

Pronunciation

  • /inˈt͡ʃɛn.djo/[1]

Forms

incendio m (plural incendi)[1] Old Italian also wrote the plural incendii.[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin incendium (“fire, conflagration”), a learned word.[3][4][5][1][6] The Latin noun comes from incendō (“to set on fire, burn”), a compound of the intensive prefix in- and a verb related to candeō (“to glow, be hot”).[3][4][1] The verb incendere itself was long used by Italian writers and is still found in old texts and dialects.[3]

The same learned word is French incendie, recorded from 1602, and Spanish incendio.[4][6] The adjective incendiario is formed from the noun as early as the 13th century, though it has a model in Latin incendiārius.[3][4] The verb incendiare is a denominal formation within the language; it appears in 1680 but won through only in the 19th century, when purists such as Ugolini (1855) still argued for it as a necessary word against the older verb.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a 13th-century Florentine chronicle, under the year 1159, for a large fire that destroys property.[3][7] A Florentine text tells how a feud in the city brought “great slaughter, robbery and fires” (gran mortalità di rubamenti e d'incendi).[8] DEI dates the word only to the 14th century.[6]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense “burning, overwhelming passion” is almost as old: Bono Giamboni has it before 1292.[3] Dante uses the word both ways: in the Convivio love is a “multiplied fire” that must show itself outside, and in the Inferno violence against a neighbour's goods brings “ruin, fires and harmful extortions”.[8] Petrarch speaks of the fire that consumes him, which pity only increases.[9]

Later writers used incendio for the eruption of a volcano and for anything that blazes like a fire.[2] The modern dictionaries list, besides the fire and the passion, the sudden outbreak of a war or another catastrophe and, in literary use, an intense light such as a sunset.[5][10][11] In law a fire may be accidental, negligent (colposo) or deliberate (doloso), the last two being offences.[8][5]

Timeline

  • 13th century – A Florentine chronicle records incendio under the year 1159.[3][7]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for a burning passion, and incendiario “causing fire”.[3]
  • Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses incendiario for one who sets fires.[3]
  • 1602 – French incendie is first recorded.[6]
  • 1680 – The verb incendiare appears.[3]
  • 1818 – Leopardi uses incendiare for “to inflame, excite”.[3]
  • 1855 – Ugolini's dictionary pleads for incendiare as a needed word.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A large, destructive fire that tends to spread: I vigili del fuoco hanno spento l'incendio della fabbrica in due ore.[5][10][7]
  2. (figurative) A sudden, violent outburst of a passion or feeling: l'incendio della gelosia.[5][10][9]
  3. (figurative) The sudden outbreak of a war or another devastating event: l'incendio della rivolta.[5][10][7]
  4. (figurative, literary) An intense light, a glare: l'incendio del cielo all'alba.[5][10][9]

Word family

  • incendiare
  • incendiario
  • antincendio

Usage notes

An incendio doloso is arson, a fire set on purpose; an incendio colposo is caused by negligence.[5][11] A bocca d'incendio is a fire hydrant.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  6. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1984
  7. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  8. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  9. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  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 Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Incendio.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/incendio. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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