stordire

Forms

stordire (first-person singular present stordìsco, first-person singular past historic stordìi, past participle stordìto, auxiliary (transitive) avére or (intransitive) èssere)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[2][3] According to Nocentini it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *exturdīre “to be dazed like a thrush”, from Latin turdus (“thrush”), because thrushes gorge on ripe grapes and become drunk.^[4][1] DELI, GRADIT and Devoto–Oli instead see an Italian formation on tordo in its figurative sense “fool, simpleton”, with the prefix s-.^[2][3][5][6] The same figurative sense is in Sicilian turduni (“fool”).^[7][8]

The verb is shared with Old French estordir, French étourdir, Sardinian isturdire, Catalan aturdir and Spanish aturdir, the last from an older estordir.^[4][7][9] Körting doubted the thrush etymology unless the Romance peoples could be shown to think the bird stupid.^[9] Earlier proposals were Latin turbidus (“troubled”) (Schuchardt) and *extorpidīre from torpidus (“numb”) (Diez), which Meyer-Lübke found hard on sound grounds;^[7][9][10] Ménage saw a variant of stolidus (“dull”).^[7][9][10]

There was also an old Old Italian stordare, probably made on the pattern of sordo with its verbs Old Italian sordare and sordire.^[8][10] The Latin noun goes back through Proto-Italic *torzdos to Proto-Indo-European *trosdos (“thrush”), the source also of Lithuanian strazdas and Russian дрозд (drozd).^[1][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Jacopone da Todi, before 1306, in the intransitive sense “to be left astounded, stunned”; the participle stordito is in Jacopone too.^[2][3] The transitive verb, “to confuse and daze someone, deafening or unsettling them”, is found in the 14th-century translation of Gregory the Great's homilies.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Dante used the noun stordimento in 1304–1308.^[2] Varchi observed that the verb was both transitive and intransitive: one can say io stordisco a questo romore (“I am stunned by this noise”) as well as i tuoi gridi mi stordiscono (“your cries stun me”).^[10] Boccaccio has the intransitive of amazement (stordì forte, “he was greatly astonished”), and Tasso of a knight stunned in the saddle by a blow.^[3][12]

The physical sense “to knock senseless” is found in Boiardo and later writers, and it was extended to animals and even to a plant robbed of its vigour.^[13] The participle stordito passed from “dazed” to “scatter-brained, heedless” in Manzoni's Promessi sposi (1825–1827), and Tommaseo compared the change with that of stupido.^[2] Storditaggine is recorded in Foscolo (1808), and the reflexive stordirsi, to numb oneself with pleasures or drink to forget one's troubles, in 1891.^[2][14]

Timeline

• Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi uses stordire “to be stunned” and stordito.^[2]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses stordimento.^[2]
• 14th century – The transitive verb appears in the translation of Gregory the Great.^[2]
• 1808 – Foscolo uses storditaggine.^[2]
• 1825–1827 – Manzoni uses stordito for “heedless”.^[2]
• 1873 – Tommaseo–Bellini records stordito as a noun, “a scatterbrain”.^[2]
• 1891 – The reflexive stordirsi is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To daze or stun, to confuse someone's senses or mind, as noise or drink does: Il frastuono della festa mi ha stordito.^{[3][5][15][14]}
2. (transitive) To knock senseless: Lo stordirono con un bastone.^{[3][5][15][14]}
3. (transitive, figurative) To astound, to leave someone amazed: Quella risposta ci stordì.^[3][5][15]
4. (intransitive, literary) To lose consciousness; to be left astounded.^[3][14][16]
5. (reflexive) stordirsi: to numb oneself with pleasures, work or drink so as to forget one's troubles.^[5][14][16]

Word family

• stordimento
• stordito
• storditaggine
• stordigione
• ristordire

Related words

• stordirsi
• tordo
• French étourdir

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
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. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3642
9. ^ a b c d Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 20, 227
14. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana