tizzone

Forms

tizzone m (plural tizzoni)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin tītiō (“firebrand”), continued in the form of the oblique cases, the accusative ⟨titiōnem⟩, while tizzo reflects the nominative.^[2][3][4][5] Lactantius calls the word one of the common people for a half-burnt brand taken from the fire.^[2]

The word is found throughout the Romance languages: French tison, Occitan tisó, Catalan tisó, Spanish tizón, Portuguese tição, Sardinian tittone and Romanian tăciune.^[3][6][7] The DÉRom reconstructs Proto-Romance */tiˈtion-e/ with two senses, “firebrand” and “smut of grain”; the second survives in Romanian, Sicilian, Calabrian, Sardinian, Friulian, Spanish and Asturian.^[8]

Nocentini and Battaglia's dictionary take the Latin word as probably imitative, from a sound ti-ti for the crackling of the fire, as in a Latin verb for “to chirp”.^[3][9][10] De Vaan suggests instead a noun of the root Proto-Indo-European *teyh₁- (“to become hot, melt”), with the meaning “heating”.^[11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a Sienese translation of Egidio Romano of 1288, with the sense “a piece of burning wood”;^[12][13] Zingarelli dates the word before 1292.^[12][13] DELI cites the 14th-century Italian Livy, where brands are thrown to set fire to the enemy's city.^[2][14]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used tizzone for volcanic lapilli and for a burning vapour seen in the sky.^[12] Giamboni already used it figuratively, of the brands of civil war scattered over the world.^[9] Tuscan has the proverb non è tizzone che non abbia il suo fumo, and nero come un tizzone describes a furious person.^[14][10]

Segneri wrote of tizzoni nell'inferno in 1686, and tizzone d'inferno “wicked person” is recorded in 1879.^[2] Manzoni's Agnese cries “Ah anima nera! ah tizzone d'inferno!”.^[10][15]

Timeline

• 1288 – A Sienese translation of Egidio Romano uses tizzone.^[12]
• 14th century – the Italian Livy uses the word.^[2]
• 1686 – Segneri writes tizzoni nell'inferno.^[2]
• 1879 – tizzone d'inferno “wicked person” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A firebrand, a piece of wood or coal that is burning or has begun to burn; an ember: Ha spostato un tizzone con l'attizzatoio.^[5][10][15]
2. (figurative) In tizzone d'inferno, a wicked, evil person.^[5][10][15]

Word family

• tizzoncino
• stizzone
• tizzonato

Related words

• tizzo
• Latin tītiō
• French tison

References

1. ^ a b c 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. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
8. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
9. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 20, 1088
10. ^ 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
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. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
13. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)