sfuso

Forms

sfuso (feminine sfusa, masculine plural sfusi, feminine plural sfuse)^[1]

Etymology

DELI, quoting Alessio, and Nocentini take it as a word from southern Italy: it is borrowed from Neapolitan sfuse (“one by one, in separate pieces”), which rests on a Vulgar Latin *exfūsus, replacing classical Latin effūsus.^[2][3][4] That is the past participle of *exfundere (“to loosen”), a remaking of classical effundō (“to pour out”), from fundō (“to pour”) with the prefix ex-.^[3][5] A Calabrian verb meaning “to untie, loosen”, with a participle meaning “slack” and “ruptured”, supports it.^[2][3] Sicilian sfusu was said in 1876 of thread not wound well and of unspun cotton.^[2]

Most dictionaries instead derive it in Italian, from Italian s- + fuso, the past participle of fondere.^{[6][7][8][9][10][1]} Devoto saw it as a cross of fuso with sciolto.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

GDLI's earliest quotation is from a trade paper of 20 September 1941, which prices loose honey by the kilo.^[12][5] Migliorini recorded merce sfusa, goods not packed in boxes or parcels, in 1942.^[2][12]

Semantic evolution

The word spread with the sale of loose goods: Moravia writes of dates sold loose, and Flaiano of loose wine served at the bar of the Chamber of Deputies.^[12] The sense “melted, liquefied”, as of butter, is recorded from 1960.^[2][6] Fenoglio used it of soldiers separated from their units.^[12][5]

Timeline

• 1941 – A trade paper uses sfuso of loose honey.^[12][5]
• 1942 – Migliorini records merce sfusa.^[2]
• 1960 – A dictionary records the sense “melted”.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. loose, unpackaged: of goods sold without a box, packet or bottle: olive sfuse, vino sfuso.^[5][6][8][1]
2. (uncommon) melted, liquefied: burro sfuso.^[5][6][8]
3. Of a soldier, straggling, separated from his unit.^[5][12]

Related words

• fuso
• fondere
• effuso

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
5. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b c d e f Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 18, 961