ira

Forms

ira f (plural ire)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin īra (“anger, rage”), a learned word according to DELI, Zingarelli and the GDLI.^[2][3][4] Nocentini instead lists it among the Latin words of Indo-European origin, with parallels in Old French ire, Occitan ira, Catalan ira, Spanish ira and Portuguese ira.^[5][6][7] DEI dates the Old French word to the 12th century.^[8]

In Latin the family includes īrācundus (“irascible”), īrācundia (“hot temper”), īrātus (“angry”) and īrāscor (“to become angry”).^[9][2] De Vaan takes the verb as a back-formation from the participle, which was formed directly from the noun.^[9] Plautus spells the word eira in a pun with era (“mistress”), which may point to an old diphthong ⟨ei⟩.^[9][10]

Wiktionary derives it from Proto-Italic *eizā and Proto-Indo-European *h₁eys-.^[1] De Vaan reconstructs *h₁eis-h₂- (“anger”) and compares Avestan aēšma (“wrath”) and Ancient Greek οἶμα (oîma, “spring, rush”).^[9][10] Nocentini and Wiktionary add οἶστρος (oîstros, “gadfly; frenzy”) and Lithuanian aistrà (“violent passion”).^[5][1] De Vaan accepts this etymology only for want of a better one: it is not certain that the Latin word had an /s/ between vowels, and the link between a root meaning “to urge” and words for anger is weak.^[9] Devoto likewise found no close connections between the forms.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is from Patecchio, at the start of the 13th century, in the sense of a sudden and violent impulse of the mind against someone or something.^[2] The GDLI quotes his line Qi tien soperbia et ira, l'amor de Deu non avrà (“whoever holds pride and anger will not have the love of God”), where anger stands beside pride as a sin.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Before 1250 Giacomo da Lentini used the word for a just anger that punishes, the sense of the biblical ira di Dio, which renders the Latin of the New Testament (sed ira Dei manet super eum, John 3:36).^[2] The giorno dell'ira translates the Latin dies irae, the Day of Judgement.^[8][12] About 1336 Boccaccio used the plural for grave discord between factions.^[2] Dante's accenti d'ira among the cries of Hell is one of the best-known early uses.^[4][13]

Medieval commentators defined anger as a desire for revenge or a boiling of the blood around the heart; it was counted among the seven deadly sins and was once also thought of as a partial madness.^[14][4] An old sense “sorrow, grief” has died out.^[3][1] Modern Italian also uses the word figuratively for the fury of the elements and for a person beside themselves with rage, and colloquially in essere un'ira di Dio, of something terrible or ruinous.^[15][3][12] In Calabria jira is the urge of teething children to bite, and Sicilian nghirria, in Sicily, is a child's tantrum.^[8]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – First record, in Patecchio.^[2]
• Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ira for a just, punishing anger, and irato “angry”.^[2]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses iroso “quick to anger”.^[2]
• 1308 – Dante uses iracundo and, in a philosophical sense, irascibile.^[2]
• About 1336 – Boccaccio uses the plural for grave discord.^[2]
• 1598 – Florio records irascibile “prone to anger”.^[2]
• 1869 – Irascibilità “quickness to anger” is recorded by Tommaseo–Bellini.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. anger, wrath: a violent, often sudden feeling of rage against someone or something: In un impeto d’ira ruppe il vaso.^{[15][16][17][12]}
2. (theology) Wrath, one of the seven deadly sins.^{[15][16][12][1]}
3. hatred, ill will: avere qualcuno in ira (to hate someone), essere in ira a qualcuno (to be hated by someone).^{[15][17][3][12]}
4. (literary, usually plural) Bitter discord, strife between factions: le ire tra le fazioni.^{[15][16][17][3]}
5. (literary) Righteous indignation.^[15][17][16]
6. (figurative) The fury of the natural elements: l’ira delle onde.^{[15][16][17][3]}
7. (figurative, uncommon) A person beside themselves with rage, a fury.^[15][16][17]
8. (obsolete) grief, affliction.^[3][1]

Word family

• irato
• iroso
• irosamente
• iracondo
• iracondia
• irascibile
• irascibilità
• irarsi
• adirare
• iradiddio

Related words

• irascere
• Latin ira

Usage notes

Ira is a stronger and more elevated word than its synonym collera.^[3] The capitalised abbreviation IRA is the Irish Republican Army.^[15][16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
8. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2103
9. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ 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
16. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
17. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse