tronfiare

Forms

tronfiare (first-person singular present trónfio, first-person singular past historic tronfiài, past participle tronfiàto, auxiliary avére)^[1] The GDLI records a regional form trenfiare.^[2]

Etymology

Its origin is debated.^[3][4][5] DELI, GRADIT and the GDLI see it as from Italian trionfare with metathesis, and Meyer-Lübke files it under Latin triumphō (“to triumph”).^[3][6][2][7] Others take it as a blend: of triumphō with cōnflō (“to blow up”) for Devoto, with inflō (“to blow into, inflate”) for Treccani, Gabrielli and Wiktionary, or a crossing of gonfiare with the same verb for Sabatini–Coletti and Zingarelli.^{[8][9][10][1][11][5]}

Nocentini and Devoto–Oli prefer a variant of Vulgar Latin *tufāre (“to blow”) (see truffa), drawn towards the verb for swelling, with a sound-symbolic ⟨r⟩ and ⟨n⟩ as in trambusto.^[4][12] Nocentini points to other outcomes of this verb close in sense, Portuguese tufar-se (“to swell with vanity”) and Catalan estufar-se (“to give oneself airs”).^[4] Devoto–Oli derives the verb from typhus (“vapour, smoke”), from Ancient Greek τῦφος (tûphos, “smoke, fever”).^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Luigi Pulci (before 1484), of a man full of himself: L'amico tronfia, io tribolo (“my friend swaggers, I suffer”).^[5][2] GRADIT dates the verb to 1536 and Nocentini to the first half of the 16th century.^[6][4] The adjective tronfio, which DELI explains as a shortened form of the verb, is used of a rooster by Boccaccio (1348–53).^[3]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the verb meant to put on a conceited, self-satisfied air.^[2] Its use for birds is described by Carena: a pigeon tronfia when it chases its mate with head up, breast out and crop swollen, cooing;^[2] Pascoli compares Dante's pride to the strutting and turning of pigeons.^[2] The sense of puffing and panting from discomfort appears in Guerrazzi, Giusti and Tozzi, and in the 20th century Viani used it of an engine chugging and blowing out steam.^[2]

Tommaseo already called it the same word as stronfiare but less common, and the modern dictionaries mark it uncommon or literary.^[13][12][5]

Timeline

• Before 1484 – Luigi Pulci uses tronfia of a self-important man.^[5][2]
• 1536 – GRADIT's date for the verb.^[6]
• 1841 – The intensive stronfiare is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To puff and pant, especially from being too fat.^{[6][12][9][10]}
2. (intransitive) Of a pigeon, turkey or rooster: to strut with puffed-out breast.^{[6][12][9][5]}
3. (intransitive, ironic) Of a person: to walk about full of oneself, swollen with conceit.^[6][12][10]

Word family

• tronfio
• stronfiare

Related words

• trionfare
• gonfiare

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21, 407
3. ^ a b c 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 d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
11. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET