volare Italian · revision 38295

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1293–1294, Dante}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /voˈla.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''volare''' (first-person singular present vólo, first-person singular past historic volài, past participle volàto, auxiliary (usually) avére or (when accompanied by a location to or from, or in extended or figurative senses) èssere)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old and dialect forms include ''voliare'' and ''votare''.^(GDLI|21, 978)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|volō|t=to fly]], which Latin also used for moving swiftly, as when Cicero writes that letters “flew” to Pompey at Capua.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) The verb survives in all of the Romance languages except Romanian: [[fr|voler]], [[oc|volar]], [[ca|volar]], [[es|volar]], [[pt|voar]] and [[sc|bolare]].^(DEI|4081)^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) The DÉRom places it in the oldest layer of Proto-Romance, and notes that it is missing in Dalmatian, Friulian, Ladin and Romansh as well.^(DÉRom) The French verb also came to mean “to steal”, from falconry, where the falcon was flown at a bird.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The deeper origin is uncertain.^(DELI 1999) Wiktionary gives [[itc-pro|*gʷelāō]] as the Proto-Italic form.^(Wiktionary) Nocentini and Devoto compare [[sa|गरुत्|tr=garút|t=wing]] and the name of Garuda, king of the birds, which point to a root ⟨*gʷel-⟩ of the language of augurs.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968) De Vaan mentions a derivation from [[ine-pro|*gʷelh₁-|t=to raise the arm, throw]], the root of [[grc|βάλλω|tr=bállō|t=to throw]], proposed by Muller and rejected by Walde and Hofmann, and finds the shift from raising the arm to flying conceivable for birds.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in Dante's ''Vita nuova'' (1293–1294), with the sense “to stay up and move through the air by means of wings”, said of birds and other winged animals.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante also used the verb for fantastic winged beings and for rising to great heights, and Petrarch in 1374 for time that runs away.^(DELI 1999) Luigi Pulci, before 1484, used it for running at great speed and for objects hurled with force.^(DELI 1999) ''Volare in cielo'', to die, is recorded in Saviozzo in 1420.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ With balloons and aircraft the verb came to mean travelling by air (Tommaseo–Bellini, 1879) and, in Marinetti and Azari's ''Primo dizionario aereo italiano'' of 1929, the flight of the aircraft itself.^(DELI 1999) ''Volare alto'', to aim high, runs parallel to French ''voler haut''.^(DELI 1999) The family grew large: ''volante'' “steering wheel” (1609), ''volantino'' “leaflet” (1923), and ''volo spaziale'' after English ''space flight''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1293–1294 – Dante uses ''volare'' for the flight of birds.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1374 – Petrarch uses it for time that passes quickly.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1420 – ''Volare in cielo'' “to die” appears in Saviozzo.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1484 – Luigi Pulci uses it for moving at great speed.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1609 – ''Volante'' is recorded for a hand wheel.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1879 – The Tommaseo–Bellini dictionary records the sense “to travel by air”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1923 – ''Volantino'' “leaflet” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1929 – Marinetti and Azari use ''volare'' for aircraft.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # Of birds and other winged animals, to [[m|en|fly]]: ''Le rondini volavano basse sul campo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Of angels, gods and fantastic creatures, to move through the air.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Of aircraft and spacecraft, to fly through the air or through space.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To travel by plane, or to work as a pilot or member of a flight crew: ''Mio fratello ha paura di volare.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Of light objects, to float through the air before falling: ''Le foglie volavano nel vento.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To be thrown or flung through the air, and figuratively of blows and insults exchanged.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To go very fast, to rush: ''Appena saputo, è volato a casa.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Of time, to pass quickly.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[volo]]

+ * [[volata]]

+ * [[volante]]

+ * [[volantino]]

+ * [[volatile]]

+ * [[volatore]]

+ * [[volatica]]

+ * [[svolazzare]]

+ * [[sorvolare]]

+ * [[trasvolare]]

+ * [[convolare]]

+ * [[volitare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[idrovolante]]

+ * [[voliera]]

+ * [[fr|voler]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Volare'' takes ''avere'' when the action itself is meant and ''essere'' with a place to or from and in figurative senses.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) Set phrases include ''volere o volare'' (“like it or not”), ''non si sente volare una mosca'' (“you could hear a pin drop”) and ''volare in cielo'' (“to die”).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) A separate anatomical adjective ''volare'' “of the palm or sole”, from Latin ''vola'', is recorded from 1961.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) An 18th-century ''volare'' “to steal”, adapted from French ''voler'', appears in Scipione Maffei.^(GDLI|21, 980)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}