scintilla

Forms

scintilla f (plural scintille)^[1] Old forms include sintilla and sentilla.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin scintilla (“spark”).^[5][6][7] DELI quotes Rohlfs, for whom it is a literary word, not popular in Tuscany, where the everyday word is favilla or failla.^[5] Wiktionary treats it as inherited, and Nocentini explains the ⟨-illa⟩ of the Latin word, whose ⟨i⟩ is short, by alignment with favīlla.^[1][8] The Latin word is panromance: an old metathesis gave Vulgar Latin *stincilla, the source of French étincelle and Sardinian istinchidda, and it also gave Catalan centella and Spanish centella.^[8][9]

The Latin word looks like a diminutive.^[10][11] It is compared with Ancient Greek σπινθήρ (spinthḗr, “spark”) and Lithuanian spindėti (“to shine”), though the Latin vowel does not fit a regular ablaut.^[8][11] Pokorny linked it with a root *skī- (“to shine”), but de Vaan finds the stem ⟨scint-⟩ unexplained.^[10] Wiktionary derives it from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₁y- (“to gleam”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Milanese poems of Bonvesin de la Riva, late in the 13th century, for a glowing fragment that leaps from something burning and soon goes out.^[2] DELI's first record is Dante, before 1321.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Already in Old Italian the word was used for any bright, brief light and for a body that shines intensely;^[2][12] Dante's L'incendio suo seguiva ogne scintilla speaks of the angels of the Empyrean.^[2][12] Figurative uses appeared early too: divina scintilla for the light of grace, a tiny quantity of something, a strong outburst of feeling, and what sets something in motion.^[2]

DELI dates the sense “flash of insight” from Segneri, 1686, and “cause” from 1960.^[5][13] In 1750 the physician Cocchi used scintilla for an eye complaint, a medical sense that the Zingarelli still records as a visual disturbance.^[9][4] The electric spark was described in the 19th century as the tongue of fire that leaps between two bodies with different charges.^[14] A Tuscan proverb says that a small spark can burn a whole village.^[14]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – Bonvesin de la Riva uses the word.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses scintilla in the Paradiso.^[5][14]
• 14th century – Sacchetti writes sintilla.^[9]
• 1686 – Segneri uses the word for a sudden flash of the mind.^[5]
• 1750 – Cocchi uses scintilla for an eye complaint.^[9]
• 1960 – The sense “cause, trigger” is recorded.^[5][13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A spark: a tiny glowing particle that flies from a fire, from burning material or from metal or stone struck hard.^[6][7][13]
2. (physics) The flash of light that goes with an electric discharge;^[6][7][4] scintilla elettrica.^[6][7][4]
3. (figurative) A sudden flash of the mind, an insight: la scintilla di un’idea.^[6][7][4]
4. (figurative) The cause or occasion that sets off an event, a trigger.^[6][7][13]
5. A gleam or glint of light.^[6][15][16]
6. (uncommon) A tiny amount, a spark of a quality.^[15]

Word family

• scintillare
• scintillante
• scintillazione
• scintillio
• scintillatore
• scintigrafia
• scintigramma

Related words

• favilla
• Latin scintilla
• French étincelle

Usage notes

Fare scintille means to shine, to do brilliantly, or to be furious.^[15][16]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
4. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3400
10. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli