ingoiare

Forms

ingoiare (first-person singular present ingóio or ingòio, first-person singular past historic ingoiài, past participle ingoiàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

Its probable source is inherited from Vulgar Latin *ingluviāre (“to gorge oneself”), formed from ingluviēs (“crop, gullet”) (see ingluvie).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} DELI, following Pieri and Schuchardt, and GDLI add the influence of *ingulāre, formed from gula (“throat”) with the prefix in- meaning “into”.^[2][7][8] Nocentini explains the modern form by dissimilation of an intermediate stage of the Vulgar Latin verb.^[3]

Not everyone accepts this.^[9][1] DEI calls the origin uncertain: a link with ingobbiare is difficult in its sounds, and it compares trangugiare.^[9] Wiktionary is also cautious and notes that, if the derivation is right, the word is related to the regional ingubbiare.^[1] Zingarelli instead sees a compound of in- and a goio “crop”, parallel to gogio.^[10]

The Latin noun is possibly related to Proto-Indo-European *gʷel- (“throat”), but de Vaan doubts this root and suggests that imitative forms such as *gul- and *glu- may have arisen several times; compare the word for throat and gluttiō (“to gulp down”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Florentine translation of Seneca's letters (Pistole di Seneca), dated before 1325 with a question mark, in the sense of swallowing food or drink hastily out of greed.^[11] DELI dates the word from Pulci, before 1484, and notes that in Dante it is uncertain whether the reading is ingoia or scuoia.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used the verb of animals and of people, in the general sense of taking in food, in the stronger sense of devouring, and figuratively for the sea swallowing things up.^[11] Ariosto writes of a monster that vivo alcun ne ’ngoia (“swallows some alive”).^[7]

The sense “to put up with, tolerate” is dated by DELI to Alfieri, before 1803.^[2] Fixed phrases build on it: ingoiare il rospo “to swallow the toad”, to have to accept something very unpleasant, ingoiare un boccone amaro, and ingoiare le lacrime “to hold back one's tears”.^[4][5][12]

Timeline

• Before 1325? – The Florentine Pistole di Seneca use ingoiare.^[11]
• 1362 – Zingarelli's date for the word.^[10]
• Before 1484 – Luigi Pulci uses ingoiare.^[2]
• Before 1803 – Alfieri uses it for “to tolerate”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To swallow or gulp down, especially quickly or greedily: Ha ingoiato la pastiglia senz'acqua.^[4][5][6][1]
2. (transitive, figurative) To put up with, to tolerate without protest: ingoiare il rospo, ingoiare un boccone amaro.^[4][5][10]
3. (transitive, figurative) To engulf, to drag down and make disappear: La palude ingoiò il carro.^{[4][5][6][12]}

Word family

• ingoiamento
• ingoiatore
• ringoiare

Related words

• ingluvie
• gola
• ingollare
• inghiottire
• Latin ingluvies

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2030
10. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
12. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli