strillare

Forms

strillare (first-person singular present strìllo, first-person singular past historic strillài, past participle strillàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.^[2][3] DELI, GRADIT and Devoto–Oli take it as an imitative word, and the GDLI models it on trillare.^[2][4][5][6] Nocentini forms it from Italian s- + trillare, with the intensive prefix.^[7] DELI objects that trillo is recorded later, so it cannot be the source.^[2]

The older explanation, given by Meyer-Lübke and kept by Wiktionary, Zingarelli, Gabrielli and Devoto, is a Vulgar Latin *strīdulāre “to screech”, formed on Latin strīdulus (“shrill, creaking”), from strīdeō (“to creak, screech”).^{[8][1][9][10][11]} Prati compared the loss of the vowel in crollare and spalla.^[12] Against it, DELI and the GDLI point to the late record of the Italian verb, and DEI notes that the Latin verb would have left no trace elsewhere in Romance.^[2][6][13] Sabatini–Coletti and Treccani give the Latin source with a “perhaps”, and Treccani does not rule out an imitative word.^[3][14]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is Ariosto's Orlando furioso (1532), where a frightened woman piange e grida e strilla (“weeps and cries and shrieks”): to cry out loud in a high voice.^[2][6] The GDLI quotes an earlier Roman text, the Anonimo romano, in which everyone wronged strilla, and Zingarelli dates the word to before 1363.^[6][9]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century Benedetto Varchi equated strillare with Latin vociferari, to shout as loud as one's head or throat allows.^[6] Manzoni used it in I promessi sposi (1825–1827) for loud protest: Se i fornai strillassero, non lo domandate (“if the bakers raised an outcry, don't ask”).^[2]

Several senses come from central and southern Italy.^[2] Romanesco strillà is recorded in Belli's sonnets from 1832 to 1835 for talking loudly, saying something at the top of one's voice and scolding, before standard Italian (1891 and later).^[2] Panzini noted in 1923 that in Rome strillare is transitive and means “to scold”.^[2] The derivative strillone (1873) became the street seller who cries out the news while selling newspapers (1886), and strillare i giornali is to sell them that way.^[2][4] The bird strillozzo, the corn bunting, is named for its shrill call.^[2][7] DIFIT lists two Polari words under the verb: strill, a musical instrument such as a portable harmonium or piano, and strel, a banjo (late 19th century).^[15]

Timeline

• 1532 – Ariosto uses strillare in the Orlando furioso.^[2][4]
• Before 1565 – Benedetto Varchi uses strillo, a shriek.^[2]
• 1622 – DEI finds strillozzo in Olina, the first record DELI gives being Oudin's dictionary of 1640.^[2]
• 1825–1827 – Manzoni uses the verb for loud protest.^[2]
• 1832–1835 – Belli's Romanesco has strillà for saying aloud, talking loudly and scolding.^[2]
• 1873 – Strillone, a person who shouts, is recorded in Tommaseo–Bellini.^[2]
• 1886 – Strillone is recorded for the newspaper seller.^[2]
• 1891 – Petrocchi records the senses “talk very loudly” and “say aloud”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To scream or shriek, to cry out in a loud, high voice: il neonato strillava di fame.^[4][5][3]
2. (intransitive) To talk too loudly.^[4][5][9]
3. (intransitive) To protest loudly, to kick up a fuss.^[4][5][1]
4. (transitive, colloquial) To shout something, to say it at the top of one's voice: gli strillò l'indirizzo dal portone.^[4][5] Strillare i giornali is to sell newspapers in the street by crying out the news.^[4][5]
5. (transitive, colloquial) To scold.^[4][5][1]

Word family

• strillo
• strillone
• strillozzo
• strillata
• strillio
• strillonaggio

Related words

• trillare
• stridere
• stridulo
• Latin strīdulus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ 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
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
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. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 957
13. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3656
14. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it