fiore Italian · revision 38742

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 12th century, Ritmo di Sant'Alessio|origins=ine-pro *bʰleh₃-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈfjo.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fiore''' ''m'' (plural fiori, diminutive fiorellìno or (poetic) fiorìno or fioricìno or (archaic) fiorèllo or fiorétto, augmentative fioróne, pejorative fioràccio)^(Wiktionary)

+ Before another word it is often shortened to '''fior''' (''fior di latte'', ''a fior d'acqua'').^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) Old forms include [[roa-oit|flore]], [[roa-oit|frore]] and [[roa-oit|fiur]].^(TLIO)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|flōs|t=flower]], from its accusative form.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The word is panromance: [[fr|fleur]], [[oc|flor]], [[ca|flor]], [[es|flor]], [[pt|flor]], [[sc|flore]], [[fur|flor]] and [[ro|floare]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907) It is masculine in Italian, Sardinian and Friulian but feminine in Romanian and in the west of the Romance area.^(DÉRom) DÉRom reports the view that the feminine was the Romance gender and that Latin influence brought back the masculine.^(DÉRom) The feminine “fiore” of Old Italian lyric poetry may copy French and Occitan usage, where the word is feminine.^(TLIO)^(GDLI)

+

+ Latin “flōs” goes back to [[itc-pro|*flōs]] and [[ine-pro|*bʰleh₃-ōs|t=blossoming]], an s-stem of a root meaning “to bloom”.^(de Vaan 2008) Its relatives are Celtic and Germanic: [[sga|bláth|t=flower]], [[goh|bluowen|t=to bloom]], [[got|𐌱𐌻𐍉𐌼𐌰|tr=blōma|t=flower]], [[de|Blume]] and [[non|blóm]], the source of [[en|bloom]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the ''Ritmo di Sant'Alessio'', a poem from the Marche of the late 12th century;^(TLIO) Nocentini dates the word to before 1202.^(Nocentini 2010) DELI's first example is the ''Canticle of the Creatures'' of St Francis (before 1226), which praises the earth that “produces various fruits with coloured flowers and grass” (''produce diversi fructi con coloriti fiori et herba'').^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative senses go back to the earliest poets: Giacomo da Lentini (before 1250) used it for the choicest part of a people or a class of persons, Frederick II (before 1250) for a person of great beauty, and Bonagiunta (before 1257) for the best part of a substance.^(DELI 1999) Old Italian also used ''fiore'' as an adverb with a negative, “not a bit, not at all”: Dante asks to be forgiven “if my pen strays a little” (''se fior la penna abborra'', ''Inferno'' 25), and Bembo noted that the oldest writers used it in place of ''punto''.^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ In the 16th century the word took on technical senses: the “flowers” of chemistry, substances obtained by sublimation (1563), the surface of something (1585), behind ''a fior d'acqua'' “on the surface of the water”, and the suit of clubs in French playing cards (1561).^(DELI 1999) Bartoli (1661) used it for an abundance.^(DELI 1999) The gold ''fiorino'' (florin), coined at Florence in the 13th century, was named after the lily stamped on it, and the fencing foil, ''fioretto'', after the button on its tip.^(DELI 1999)^(REW 1935) Florence itself is ''la città del Fiore''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – ''Fiore'' appears in the ''Ritmo di Sant'Alessio''.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1226 – St Francis uses it in the ''Canticle of the Creatures''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses it for the best of a group of people.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1237 – Medieval Latin ''florenus'' is recorded at San Gimignano, Italian ''fiorino'' follows in 1271.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1561 – ''Fiori'' is recorded as the suit of clubs.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1563 – Mattioli uses it for a substance obtained by sublimation.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1585 – Garzoni uses it for the surface of something.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1725 – ''Fior fiore'', “the very best”, is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|flower]], [[m|en|blossom]]: the showy, often coloured and scented part of a plant: ''Le ha portato un mazzo di fiori di campo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(botany)'' The reproductive structure of flowering plants, with sepals, petals, stamens and pistils.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A plant grown for its flowers: ''In primavera pianta i fiori sul balcone.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The best part, the [[m|en|pick]] of something: ''il fiore della nobiltà''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The prime, the time of greatest splendour: ''nel fiore degli anni'', in the prime of life.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A person or thing of great beauty or goodness: ''Quel bambino è un fiore.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The surface of something, in phrases such as ''a fior d'acqua'' and ''a fior di pelle''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(card games, plural)'' [[m|en|clubs]], one of the four suits of French playing cards: ''il re di fiori''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fiorire]]

+ * [[fiorito]]

+ * [[fioritura]]

+ * [[fiorente]]

+ * [[fiorino]]

+ * [[fioretto]]

+ * [[fiorellino]]

+ * [[fioraio]]

+ * [[fiorista]]

+ * [[fioriera]]

+ * [[fiorame]]

+ * [[fiorato]]

+ * [[fiorile]]

+ * [[infiorare]]

+ * [[sfiorare]]

+ * [[fiordilatte]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[affiorare]]

+ * [[fiordaliso]]

+ * [[floreale]]

+ * [[la|flos]]

+ * [[fr|fleur]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''fiore all'occhiello'', a buttonhole flower and figuratively a source of pride, ''essere in fiore'', to be in bloom, and ''fiori d'arancio'', orange blossom as the symbol of a wedding.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020) ''Fior di'' before a noun means “a fine, a real”, and ''fior fiore'' means “the very best”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ GRADIT has a second, obsolete ''fiore'', in the plural “menstruation”, from Latin ''fluōrem'' “flow”, from ''fluere'' “to flow”;^(GRADIT 2003) Prati records ''fiori'' in this sense in Redi.^(Prati 1951|445)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}