fuoco Italian · revision 37827

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=last quarter of the 12th century, Proverbia que dicuntur|origins=la focus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈfwɔ.ko/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fuoco''' ''m'' (plural fuochi or (Old Italian) fòcora or fuòcora, diminutive fochétto/fuochétto or fochettìno or focherèllo/fuocherèllo or focherellìno or (uncommon) focolìno, augmentative focóne/fuocóne or focaróne)^(Wiktionary)

+ The older and poetic form is [[roa-oit|foco]], and the old plural was ''fuòcora'' or ''fòcora''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|focus|t=hearth, fireplace]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) For fire itself Latin used the old Indo-European word [[m|la|ignis|t=fire]], while the noun meant the domestic hearth, opposed to [[m|la|āra|t=altar]], the hearth of the gods.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) In popular Latin it took on the sense “fire”, and, from the 4th century it rendered [[grc|πῦρ|tr=pŷr|t=fire; hearth]] in translations of the Bible and in medical writers, perhaps as a calque of the Greek word, which had both meanings.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) It replaced the old word entirely: every Romance language continues it, and none keeps a trace of the other.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) The same word is [[ro|foc]], [[fr|feu]], [[oc|fuec]], [[ca|foc]], [[es|fuego]], [[pt|fogo]] and [[sc|fogu]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The origin of the Latin noun is unclear.^(de Vaan 2008)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto 1968) The obvious link with [[m|la|foveō|t=to warm]] meets the difficulty of the short vowel.^(Nocentini 2010) De Vaan rules out a connection with [[m|la|fax|t=torch]], and finds Hamp's derivation from [[ine-pro|*dʰegʷʰ-|t=to burn]] chronologically difficult.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) DEI even calls the structure of the word non-Indo-European.^(DEI|1736)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur'' (late 12th century).^(TLIO) DELI starts with ''focu'' in Francis of Assisi (about 1224): “Laudato si', mi' Signore, per frate focu, / per lo quale ennallumini la nocte” (Praised be you, my Lord, for Brother Fire, by whom you light up the night).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|6, 469) The form ''foco'' appears before 1250 in Giacomo da Lentini and ''fuoco'' before 1292 in Bono Giamboni.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Giordano da Pisa uses the word for the fire on the hearth and the hearth itself (1302–1305), and Francesco da Barberino for intense heat or fervour (before 1348).^(DELI 1999) Medieval censuses counted households as ''fuochi'', and the word also named a household tax.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Prati 1951|471) With firearms came the sense “discharge, shot” in Machiavelli (1513–1521), and Galileo used it for the focus of a lens (before 1642), a term perhaps coined by Kepler in 1604.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Several phrases are calques: ''fuoco sacro'' of Latin ''ignis sacer'', ''essere tra due fuochi'' of French ''être entre deux feux'', and ''fuoco amico'' of English ''friendly fire'' (1999).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The musical direction ''con fuoco'' was taken into German (1802) and French.^(DIFIT) From Venetian ''fogo'' Turkish took a military word of command.^(DEI|1736)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Last quarter of the 12th century – The ''Proverbia que dicuntur'' use the word.^(TLIO)

+ * About 1224 – Francis of Assisi writes ''focu''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini writes ''foco''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni writes ''fuoco''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1513–1521 – Machiavelli uses it for gunfire.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1604 – Kepler perhaps coins the optical sense, which Galileo uses before 1642.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1802 – German takes over ''con fuoco''.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|fire]], the heat and light of burning: ''Accendiamo il fuoco nel camino.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The flame used for cooking: ''Cuoci la salsa a fuoco basso.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A [[m|en|burner]] or ring of a cooker: ''Il nostro fornello ha tre fuochi.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' A light, a match or lighter.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # The [[m|en|hearth]]; home and family: ''Passavano le sere d'inverno accanto al fuoco.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(historical)'' A household, as counted in censuses.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Gunfire, shooting: ''aprire il fuoco'', ''cessate il fuoco''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Ardour, passion: ''Recitava con tutto il suo fuoco.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A burning feeling, as of fever.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(optics, mathematics)'' A [[m|en|focus]]: ''mettere a fuoco''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(astrology)'' ''segni di fuoco'': Aries, Leo and Sagittarius.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ===Interjection===

+ # ''(military)'' Fire!, the order to shoot.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # In children's games, “hot!”, said to someone close to the hidden object.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[focoso]]

+ * [[infuocare]]

+ * [[affocare]]

+ * [[fuochista]]

+ * [[focale]]

+ * [[focalizzare]]

+ * [[sfocare]]

+ * [[controfuoco]]

+ * [[antifuoco]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[focolare]]

+ * [[fucile]]

+ * [[la|focus]]

+ * [[fr|feu]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Phrases include ''fuoco di paglia'' “a short-lived enthusiasm”, ''scherzare col fuoco'' “to play with fire”, ''mettere la mano sul fuoco'' “to vouch for something” and ''fuochi d'artificio'' “fireworks”.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}