fallo Italian · revision 38130

+ Italian has two nouns spelled ''fallo'': ''fallo'' “fault, error”, formed from the verb ''fallare'', and the learned ''fallo'' “phallus”, from Greek;^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI) DELI, GRADIT and the GDLI give them separate headwords.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI)

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+ {{homograph|1|fault, foul}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=12th century (last quarter), Proverbia que dicuntur|origins=la fallō}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈfal.lo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fallo''' ''m'' (plural falli)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The noun for a fault or error is a deverbal noun of [[fallare|t=to err, to sin]], formed without a suffix, like [[falla]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|1589) The verb is [[inh|la-lat|fallō|alt=fallāre]], a verb of the glosses that replaced classical [[la|fallō|alt=fallere|t=to deceive, to fail]] (which also gave [[fallire]]).^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Wiktionary compares [[es|fallo]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ As a sporting term, the noun displaced the loanwords [[en|fault]] and [[m|en|out]];^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti call the sporting sense a calque of the English word.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur'', of the last quarter of the 12th century.^(TLIO) DELI's first date for the sense “fault, error” is Guittone d'Arezzo, before 1294.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the word covered any act against morality, divine or human law or an agreement, and so meant both “sin” and “mistake”; it could also mean deceit or treachery, a mistaken opinion, and a physical or mental defect.^(TLIO) Dante writes of a clear conscience: “come t'è picciol fallo amaro morso!” (how small a fault is a bitter sting to you!).^(GDLI|5) DEI dates the senses “crime” and “defect” to the 14th century, “wrong, insult” to the 16th, and “mistake”, also in ball games, to the 16th.^(DEI|1589)

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+ DELI's first record of the sense “breach of the rules of a game” is Luigi Pulci, before 1484.^(DELI 1999) With modern sport the word became the ordinary term for a foul, with many compounds: ''fallo di mano'' (handball), ''fallo laterale'' (throw-in), ''doppio fallo'' (double fault).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) Textile workers use it for a weaving flaw.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The adjective ''falloso'', “making many fouls”, is recorded in 1942.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 12th century (last quarter) – The ''Proverbia que dicuntur'' has the first record.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses ''fallo'' “fault, error”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1484 – Luigi Pulci uses it of a breach of the rules of a game.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1942 – ''Falloso'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(literary)'' An [[m|en|error]], a mistake, as in ''cadere in fallo'' (to make a mistake) and ''cogliere in fallo'' (to catch someone out).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A fault, a [[m|en|sin]]: ''Ha confessato i suoi falli di gioventù.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(sports)'' A [[m|en|foul]], an infringement of the rules: ''L'arbitro ha fischiato un fallo sul centravanti.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(athletics)'' A failed jump or throw.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A flaw in manufacture, especially in a fabric: ''Il tessuto aveva un piccolo fallo sul bordo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(literary)'' A lack or failing, as in ''fare fallo'' (to fail someone): ''Ormai l'udito gli fa fallo.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[falloso]]

+ * [[fallaccio]]

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+ {{homograph|2|phallus}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1630, Girolamo Aleandri|origins=grc φαλλός}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈfal.lo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fallo''' ''m'' (plural falli)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The word for a phallus is a learned borrowing, [[bor|la-lat|phallus]], [[der|grc|φαλλός|tr=phallós|t=penis]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|1589) DELI calls the Greek word of Indo-European origin, and Nocentini derives it from the root [[ine-pro|*bʰel-|t=to swell]], which also gave [[la|follis|t=bellows]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) DEI also relates it to that Latin word.^(DEI|1589) The same Greek word is [[fr|phallus]], recorded in 1615, and [[es|falo]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|1589)^(GDLI|5, 606)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is Girolamo Aleandri's ''Difesa dell'Adone'' (1630), where the Greek form is still given as ''phallo, overo ityphallo'', for the image of the male member carried in ancient processions; the Italian spelling ''fallo'' is in Anton Maria Salvini in 1728.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word first named the image of the male organ carried in the festivals of Bacchus: Salvini speaks of “la processione del fallo”.^(GDLI|5, 606) Tommaseo noted that Parini's manuscripts spell it ''phallo'' to keep it apart from the word for a fault.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Medicine took up the plain anatomical sense in the 19th century.^(DEI|1589)

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+ By the shape, the name passed to a fungus, the stinkhorn (genus ''Phallus''), already in Giambattista Marino.^(GDLI|5, 606)^(GRADIT 2003) DEI and REW record ''fallo'', ''fallone'' and ''fellone'' in Rome for a long loaf of bread.^(DEI|1589)^(REW 1935) Derivatives include ''fallico'' (first half of the 16th century, from the Greek adjective) and the 20th-century ''fallocrazia'' and ''fallocrate''.^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1630 – Girolamo Aleandri uses ''phallo'' for the cult image.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1728 – Anton Maria Salvini uses ''fallo''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 19th century – The word enters medical use.^(DEI|1589)

+ * 1983 – ''Fallocrate'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|penis]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # In ancient religions, an image of the erect male organ, a symbol of [[m|en|fertility]] and an object of worship.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(botany)'' A stinkhorn [[m|en|fungus]] of the genus ''Phallus''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fallico]]

+ * [[fallocrazia]]

+ * [[fallocrate]]

+ * [[falloforia]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fallace]]

+ * [[fallare]]

+ * [[fallire]]

+ * [[falla]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Fallo'' is also the first person singular present of ''fallare'', and the imperative ''fa’'' with the pronoun ''lo'', “do it”.^(Wikizionario)^(Wiktionary) The GDLI records two more words: a botanical and zoological ''fallo'' for a fungus or shell shaped like a phallus, and an obsolete ''fallo'', an ornament on 16th-century bridles, perhaps of the same origin.^(GDLI|5, 606)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}