Etymologically
Log in

zanzara

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Italian word zanzara

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1250–1300 second half of the 13th century, Garzo, Proverbi More words from the 13th century
Inherited from
Latin zinzala
Ultimate origin
Late Latin zinzala

Pronunciation

  • /d͡zanˈd͡za.ra/[1]

Forms

zanzara f (plural zanzare)[1] Old Italian forms include zanzala, zenzara, zenzala and, in the north, zenzale and sensala.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin zinzāla, an imitative word for the hum of the insect.[4][5][6][1] DELI notes the variant zanzāla in Dioscorides.[4] The Latin word is recorded in the glosses, and the Reichenau Glosses have zinzella.[7][8] Devoto derives it from an imitative verb.[9]

The same word is Old French cincelle, Sardinian zìnzula and Romanian țânțar.[5][7] The Italian Wikizionario also compares Spanish cénzalo.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Florentine Proverbi of Garzo, second half of the 13th century: Zanzara trafigge / ovunque s'afigge, “the mosquito pierces wherever it settles”.[2][3] DELI dates the word from Dante's Inferno (1300–13): come la mosca cede a la zanzara, at dusk, “as the fly gives way to the mosquito”.[4][3]

Semantic evolution

Boccaccio wrote zenzare of the swarms that plagued Naples, and Cavalca and Burchiello have zanzala.[3][8] In the 17th century Oudin also recorded zanzana and zampana, which Prati found still alive in Rome.[8] Tommaseo noted that zenzara lived on in some Tuscan dialects.[11]

The net against mosquitoes was first masculine, zenzariere before 1484 (Feo Belcari), zanzariere in 1759, and zanzariera appears in 1839.[4] The word is also used of a tiresome, nagging person, and vocina da zanzara is a thin, shrill voice.[6][12] Zanzara tigre names the tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus.[12][13]

Timeline

  • Second half of the 13th century – Garzo's Proverbi has the first record.[2][3]
  • 1300–13 – Dante uses zanzara in the Inferno.[4]
  • Before 1484 – Feo Belcari has zenzariere, a mosquito net.[4]
  • 1839 – Zanzariera is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A mosquito: a small insect of damp places whose female bites people and animals to suck their blood: Stanotte una zanzara non mi ha lasciato dormire.[6][12][14]
  2. (zoology) The common house mosquito (Culex pipiens); more broadly any insect of the family Culicidae, some of which carry malaria and other diseases.[6][12][13]
  3. (figurative) A pest: an annoying, nagging person.[6][12][14]

Word family

  • zanzariera
  • zanzarone
  • zanzaretta
  • Late Latin zinzala

Usage notes

The stress falls on the second syllable, zanzàra, not zànzara, and both ⟨z⟩ are voiced.[8][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b c d Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 1069
  9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  10. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
  11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  12. ^ 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
  13. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  14. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Zanzara.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/zanzara. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·