fantastico Italian · revision 37713

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1292, Bono Giamboni|origins=grc φαντάζω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /fanˈtas.ti.ko/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fantastico''' (feminine fantastica, masculine plural fantastici, feminine plural fantastiche)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la-lat|phantasticus|t=imaginary]], [[der|grc|φανταστικός|tr=phantastikós]], which DELI derives from [[m|grc|φαντασία|tr=phantasía]], the source of [[fantasia]].^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) Zingarelli and Gabrielli trace the Greek adjective to the verb [[m|grc|φαντάζω|tr=phantázō|t=I show, make visible]].^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) DEI notes that the Late Latin word is found in Cassiodorus, and compares [[fr|fantastique]], recorded from the 14th century, and the separate French formation [[m|fr|fantasque]] (Gerson, 15th century, Montaigne, 1580).^(DEI|1595)

+

+ The modern hyperbolic sense “wonderful” owes something to French: GDLI says the French adjective influenced it, and Sabatini–Coletti says that sense came through French.^(GDLI|5, 652)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Bono Giamboni, who died in 1292, with the sense “belonging to the imagination”.^(DELI 1999) GRADIT dates the word to the second half of the 13th century.^(GRADIT 2003) The TLIO's first quotation is from Armannino's ''Fiorita'' of 1325, and its earliest senses are “unreal, imaginary, immaterial” and “endowed with supernatural powers”.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In medieval and Renaissance psychology ''virtù fantastica'' was the faculty of imagination, which the TLIO describes as the part of the brain that reworks memory into images.^(TLIO) GDLI quotes Boccaccio on the dream images that fortune set “davanti alla virtù fantastica, la quale il sonno non lega” (before the imaginative power, which sleep does not bind).^(GDLI|5, 652) The TLIO also records the word for what is false or deceptive, the product of imagination as opposed to reason, and for a person who is out of their mind or eccentric.^(TLIO) DEI dates the sense “odd, peculiar” to the 14th century and “whimsical, singular” to the 16th.^(DEI|1595) Manzoni still uses it of a moody person.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ The sense “incredible” is recorded before 1748 in Pietro Giannone.^(DELI 1999) The colloquial “splendid, magnificent” is first recorded in Panzini's dictionary of 1935, which remarked that anything at all could now be called ''fantastico'', fruit or a dish of ossobuco included.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) As a noun, ''il fantastico'' is the realm of the imagination, and especially of fantastic literature.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) English took ''fantastico'' as a noun for an absurdly behaving person in 1597, and German uses it as a musical direction.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''fantastico'' of the imagination.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1325 – Armannino's ''Fiorita'' has the word for what is unreal.^(TLIO)

+ * 1354 – Iacopo Passavanti uses the verb ''fantasticare''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – The sense “odd, eccentric” appears.^(DEI|1595)

+ * Before 1546 – Pietro Aretino uses ''fantasticheria''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1597 – English ''fantastico'' “an absurd person” is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * Before 1748 – Pietro Giannone uses the word for “incredible”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1935 – Panzini records the colloquial sense “splendid”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of the [[m|en|imagination]]; created by the imagination, [[m|en|imaginary]]: ''un paese fantastico abitato da draghi''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(by extension)'' Hard to believe, [[m|en|incredible]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(hyperbolic)'' [[m|en|wonderful]], splendid, extraordinary; also used alone as an exclamation of delight: ''Abbiamo passato una serata fantastica.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Rich in imagination, [[m|en|imaginative]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Belonging to the literature of the [[m|en|fantastic]]: ''un romanzo fantastico''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(literary)'' Of a person, moody, [[m|en|whimsical]], eccentric.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(singular only)'' The realm of the imagination; what seems unreal or extraordinary: ''una vicenda che ha del fantastico''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(heraldry)'' A monster made of the parts of different animals.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fantasticare]]

+ * [[fantasticheria]]

+ * [[fantasticamente]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fantasia]]

+ * [[fantasma]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}