pazzo

Forms

pazzo (feminine pazza, masculine plural pazzi, feminine plural pazze); also a noun, pazzo m, pazza f^[1][2] Old Italian also has paccio, paço and pascio.^[3]

Etymology

The origin is disputed, and DELI, GRADIT and Sabatini–Coletti call it uncertain.^[4][2][5] Nocentini and Devoto–Oli take it as the short past participle of the verb from Vulgar Latin *pactiāre (“to press, beat”), from Latin pactus (“pressed together”): the madman would be one who has had a knock on the head, as in picchiato and tocco.^[6][7] In support Nocentini points to strapazzare “to batter”, from a *extrapactiāre, and to the southern variant paccio, since ⟨-ctj-⟩ gave both ⟨zz⟩ and ⟨cc⟩ in Italo-Romance, as in the pair of verbs with the variant strapacciare.^[6] Biadene had already proposed the Vulgar Latin verb, but through a dialect Venetian pazzo (“dirty”) of Treviso and the Val di Fiemme;^[6][8] Prati rejected that on grounds of meaning.^[6][8]

The older explanation, Salvioni's, is Latin patiēns (“suffering; sick”), and it is accepted by Meyer-Lübke, Körting and Devoto.^[9][10][11] DEI thinks the word a half-learned medical term from that participle, which through a medieval spelling Medieval Latin paciens would also explain the southern form and older pàcio “foolish”.^[12] Nigra objected that in popular thought a madman is odd and unreasonable rather than ill, and proposed a clipping of pupazzo “puppet”, which Prati and Meyer-Lübke do not accept.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the Bolognese Serventese dei Lambertazzi e dei Geremei of about 1280, with the sense “mad”.^[4][2] The TLIO's earliest text is the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur, and its first sense is “without reason because of a mental disorder”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Already at the end of the 13th century, in Simone Pallavillani, the word was used for someone who behaves senselessly, and Boccaccio used it for “foolish”.^[4][13] Old Italian also had pazzo d'amore, mad with love, and used the feminine noun for a madwoman.^[3] Pazzia “folly” is in Giordano da Pisa before 1311, pazzesco in the 14th century and pazzerello in San Bernardino before 1444.^[4][6] The phrase cose da pazzi is probably Neapolitan in origin.^[4]

Today the adjective also intensifies (innamorato pazzo), describes reckless spending or speed, and changeable weather.^[2][7][14] DEI suggests that English patch “fool” (1549) may be an anglicised pazzo, and German had Pazzo in 1876.^[12][15]

Timeline

• c. 1280 – The Serventese dei Lambertazzi e dei Geremei has pazzo.^[4]
• End of the 13th century – Pallavillani uses it for someone acting senselessly.^[4]
• Before 1311 – Pazzia “foolish act” is recorded in Giordano da Pisa.^[4]
• 14th century – Pazzesco is recorded.^[4][6]
• 1549 – English patch “fool” is recorded.^[15]
• 1944 – Pazzoide is recorded in Palazzeschi.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. mad, insane, pazzo furioso, pazzo da legare “raving mad”.^[2][7][5]
2. Acting recklessly, as if out of one's mind: Sei pazzo a guidare con questa nebbia?^[2][7]
3. Beside oneself with a strong feeling (pazzo di gioia, di gelosia); very much in love (innamorato pazzo).^[2][7][16]
4. Odd, eccentric: Mio zio è un po' pazzo, ma gli vogliamo bene.^[2][5]
5. Senseless or excessive: spese pazze, prezzi pazzi.^[2][5][16]
6. (of weather) Changeable.^[2][14]

Noun

1. A madman or madwoman; someone reckless or eccentric.^[2][5][17]

Word family

• pazzia
• pazzesco
• pazzerello
• pazzerellone
• pazzoide
• pazzeggiare
• impazzire
• impazzare
• pazzamente

Related words

• matto
• strapazzare

Usage notes

Andare pazzo per means “to be crazy about”, darsi alla pazza gioia “to let oneself go”, and cose da pazzi! or roba da pazzi! express amazement or indignation.^[2][7][16] Acqua pazza was once thin broth or watered milk.^[16][8]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 754
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2811
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
16. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
17. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli