trafiggere

Forms

trafiggere (first-person singular present trafìggo, first-person singular past historic trafìssi, past participle trafìtto, auxiliary avére)^[1] Old forms include trafìgere, transfìgere and trasfiggere.^[2]

Etymology

It is a learned word: it is borrowed from Latin trānsfigō (“to pierce through”), adapted to the native verb figgere.^{[3][4][5][6][2]} Wiktionary instead calls it inherited, and compares Piedmontese trafige.^[1] The Latin verb, recorded from Plautus, is formed trāns- (“across”) + fīgō (“to drive in, fasten”).^[7][8]

De Vaan derives the simple verb from Proto-Indo-European *dheigw- or *dhiHgw-, with Lithuanian díegti (“to plant, sting”) as a cognate; the old form fīvere keeps the regular Latin outcome of the labiovelar.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Dante uses the verb in the Inferno, in the sense “pierce through”: a serpent ’l trafisse / là dove ’l collo a le spalle s’annoda “transfixed him where the neck is knotted to the shoulders” (Inferno 24).^[3][9] DELI dates it 1300–1313, Nocentini and GRADIT before 1313;^{[3][4][10][6]} Zingarelli has the 13th century.^{[3][4][10][6]}

Semantic evolution

Boccaccio uses it for grieving the heart (1348–1353), Franco Sacchetti for stinging with words (before 1400), and Saviozzo (1420) and already Bianco da Siena in the 14th century for wounding or stinging.^[3] Mattioli's commentary on Dioscorides applies it to the sting of wasps, bees, scorpions and spiders.^[9] The derivatives trafittura (Boccaccio) and trafitta (about 1350) named the wound;^[3] trafittura took the sense “sharp pain, stitch” only in 1961.^[3] The past participle trafitto is used mainly as a verb in the literal sense and as an adjective in the figurative one.^[11]

Timeline

• 1300–1313 – Dante uses trafiggere “pierce through”.^[3]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for “grieve” and has trafittura.^[3]
• About 1350 – Trafitta “stab wound” appears in the vernacular Crescenzi.^[3]
• Before 1400 – Franco Sacchetti uses it for “sting with words”.^[3]
• 1420 – Saviozzo uses it for “wound, sting”.^[3]
• 1961 – Trafittura “sharp pain” is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To pierce through, to transfix with a pointed weapon or object: Il cacciatore trafisse il cinghiale con l’asta.^[10][12][13]
2. To cause a sharp, stabbing pain in: Una fitta le trafiggeva la schiena.^[10][12][14]
3. (figurative) To wound deeply with words, to offend.^[10][12][6]
4. (figurative) To grieve or afflict deeply;^[10][12][14] trafiggere il cuore, to cause great sorrow.^[10][12][14]
5. (reflexive, trafiggersi) To pierce oneself or a part of one's body;^[12][15][6] (reciprocal) to pierce each other.^[12][15][6]

Word family

• trafitto
• trafittura
• trafitta
• trafiggimento
• trafiggitore
• trafittivo

Related words

• figgere
• configgere
• Latin trānsfigō

Usage notes

It is conjugated like figgere: trafiggo, trafissi, trafitto.^[12][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3852
6. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ 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
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
11. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
14. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse