bomba Italian · revision 38442

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=onomatopoeia|attested=1623, Giovan Battista Marino|origins=grc βόμβος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈbom.ba/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bomba''' ''f'' (plural bombe)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a word of imitative origin, built on the sound sequence ⟨bomb⟩ that names a resonant noise, a hum or an explosion.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The same sequence is in [[der|la|bombus|t=a buzzing, booming]], borrowed from [[grc|βόμβος|tr=bómbos|t=a hum, a boom]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012) DELI thinks of a word suggested by [[bombo]] “buzzing” and [[bombarda]] “bombard”, and GRADIT calls the etymology uncertain.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Nocentini holds that the Italian word, though recent, continues the Latin one, and gives its first record in Latin documents from 1542; the LEI finds it impossible to decide between the Latin word and a spontaneous imitative root.^(Nocentini 2010)^(LEI|6, 827) Prati too suggested, with a question mark, a derivation from the word for buzzing.^(Prati 1951|159)

+

+ The LEI calls the sense “explosive device” an Italian development that spread to all the languages of culture.^(LEI|6, 827) From Italian came [[fr|bombe]], recorded from 1640, [[es|bomba]], [[de|Bombe]] and [[en|bomb]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(LEI|6, 827)^(DIFIT)^(REW 1935) Italian also gave [[tr|bomba]].^(Wiktionary) Some uses come from English: the phrase for the atomic bomb copies [[m|en|atomic bomb]] (1945), and the sense “stimulant for athletes” follows English slang.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DIFIT, following DEI, dates a ''bomba'' “bursting ball” to 1453.^(DIFIT) Prati notes that the bomb proper was invented and used in Flanders in 1588, though similar devices are reported from the 15th century, and Migliorini dated the introduction of the word to 1588.^(Prati 1951|159)^(DELI 1999) DELI's first record of ''bomba'' for an explosive device is Marino's ''Adone'' of 1623;^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(LEI|6, 827) GRADIT and the LEI date the shell sense to Paolo Segneri, 1686.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(LEI|6, 827)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Segneri compared a vengeful heart to a lit bomb (''Un cuore vendicativo è a guisa d'una bomba accesa'').^(GDLI) As weapons changed, the word named the hand grenade (''bomba a mano'', 1917), the time bomb (''bomba a orologeria'', 1921), the atomic bomb (1945) and the hydrogen bomb (1955).^(DELI 1999) Its figurative senses rest either on the explosion, ''notizia bomba'' “sensational news” (De Roberto, 1894), or on the round shape: a doughnut, a large round ice cream and a rice pie are all ''bombe''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ In Tuscany ''bomba'' is also a tall tale, a lie.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Colloquially a ''bomba'' is a person or thing of exceptional qualities, and in slang a mix of stimulants or a doping drug.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Science uses it for the cobalt bomb of radiotherapy, the volcanic bomb and the calorimetric bomb.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DIFIT) The derivative ''bombarolo'', a Roman word for one who plants bombs in urban guerrilla warfare, is recorded from 1977.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1453 – A ''bomba'' “bursting ball” is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1542 – Medieval Latin ''bomba'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1588 – The word is introduced with the new weapon, according to Migliorini.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1623 – Marino uses ''bomba'' in the ''Adone''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1640 – French ''bombe'' is first recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1686 – Segneri uses it for an explosive shell.^(GRADIT 2003)^(LEI|6, 827)

+ * 1894 – De Roberto uses ''la bomba era scoppiata'' of a sensational piece of news.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1945 – ''Bomba atomica'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|bomb]], a hollow casing filled with [[m|en|explosive]] and fitted with a device that detonates it: ''Durante la guerra le bombe distrussero il ponte.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A sensational piece of news or event; also as an invariable adjective, ''notizia bomba''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(regional, Tuscany)'' A tall tale, a [[m|en|lie]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' A person or thing with exceptional qualities: ''Quella macchina è una bomba.''^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A stimulant taken to improve athletic performance; in slang, a mix of drugs or alcohol.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(cooking)'' A round [[m|en|doughnut]] filled with cream, a [[bombolone]]; also a large round ice cream or a baked rice pie.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # In science and medicine, a device or object named for its shape or force: ''bomba al cobalto'', ''bomba vulcanica'', ''bomba calorimetrica''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bombarolo]]

+ * [[bombetta]]

+ * [[bombola]]

+ * [[bomboletta]]

+ * [[bombolone]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bombo]]

+ * [[bombarda]]

+ * [[la|bombus]]

+ * [[fr|bombe]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A second ''bomba'', recorded before 1484, is the safe base in children's games such as hide-and-seek, which the players try to reach without being caught; it survives in ''tornare a bomba'', “to get back to the point” after a digression.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GDLI) DEI and DELI think this word may come from the ''bum!'' or ''bom!'' that the player cries on reaching the base.^(DEI|555)^(DELI 1999) ''A prova di bomba'' means “bombproof”, and figuratively “unshakeable”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}