fiume Italian · revision 38756

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 12th century, Proverbia que dicuntur|origins=ine-pro *bʰlewH-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈfju.me/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fiume''' ''m'' (plural fiumi)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old plurals are [[roa-oit|fiumi]], [[roa-oit|fiumina]] and [[roa-oit|fiumora]].^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GDLI)^(TLIO) Older forms are [[roa-oit|flume]], [[roa-oit|fiumo]] and [[roa-oit|fiome]], and the word could be feminine.^(TLIO)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|flūmen|t=flowing water, river]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|1661)^(Wiktionary) DELI and GRADIT write the Latin word with its final consonant in brackets, since the Italian comes from a form without it.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The Latin noun was formed from [[m|la|fluō|t=to flow]] with the suffix [[m|la|-men]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Nocentini 2010) De Vaan derives the verb from [[itc-pro|*flow-e/o-]] and [[ine-pro|*bʰlewH-|t=to flow over]], with cognates in [[grc|φλέω|tr=phléō|t=to abound]] and [[grc|φλύω|tr=phlúō|t=to boil over]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ The word was once found across Romance but not in Romanian: [[fro|flum]], [[pro|flum]] and Logudorese [[m|sc|flumin]].^(DEI|1661)^(REW 1935) Its rival [[la|fluvius]] gave [[fr|fleuve]], and Ibero-Romance uses [[es|río]] and [[pt|rio]] instead.^(Körting 1907)^(DEI|1661) Medieval Latin [[m|la-med|fluviolus]] is still recorded at Piacenza in the 10th century.^(DEI|1661)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur'', of the last quarter of the 12th century, and Sabatini–Coletti has ''flumo'' in the 12th century.^(TLIO)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Nocentini 2010) The sense is a permanent watercourse.^(TLIO) DELI's first date is Bono Giamboni (before 1292), who writes that armies are often forced to swim across rivers swollen by rain or snow.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian already used ''fiume'' for any great flow, of tears or of blood, and figuratively for an abundance: ''fiume di scienza'' was a very learned person, and Dante and Petrarch speak of a river of eloquence.^(TLIO)^(Prati 1951|448) The saying that rivers will flow back to the hills described something impossible.^(TLIO) The sense “riverbed” is recorded in 1697.^(DELI 1999) Diminutives are old: ''fiumicello'' is recorded in 986, and ''fiumana'' (1310–1312) and ''fiumara'' (before 1348) follow; in southern Italy ''fiumara'' is a torrent that runs only after rain.^(DELI 1999)^(Prati 1951|448)

+

+ After a noun, ''fiume'' came to mean “extremely long”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) ''Romanzo fiume'' (1942) renders [[fr|roman-fleuve]], a term of André Maurois of 1929; it was followed by ''arringa fiume'' for the long pleas of defence lawyers (from late 1947) and ''seduta fiume'', first for the 51-hour sitting of the Chamber that approved the Atlantic Pact.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – The Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur'' has the word.^(TLIO)

+ * 986 – The diminutive ''fiumicello'' is recorded.^(Prati 1951|448)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''fiume''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Early 14th century – The sense “great quantity” appears in the translation of Cassian.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1697 – Guglielmini uses ''fiume'' for a riverbed.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1929 – André Maurois coins French ''roman-fleuve''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1942 – ''Romanzo fiume'' is recorded in Italian.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|river]], a large natural stream of water with a fairly constant flow: ''Il fiume è uscito dagli argini dopo le piogge.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(hyperbolic)'' A great flow of a liquid: ''Dalla tubatura rotta usciva un fiume d'acqua.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A great quantity or an unbroken stream of people or things, ''a fiumi'', in great quantity.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # The bed of a river.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(invariable, after a noun)'' Very long, lasting beyond the usual: ''un'intervista fiume''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fiumana]]

+ * [[fiumara]]

+ * [[fiumicello]]

+ * [[fiumiciattolo]]

+ * [[fiumale]]

+ * [[oltrefiume]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fluire]]

+ * [[fluviale]]

+ * [[la|flūmen]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The proverb ''tutti i fiumi vanno al mare'' says that things follow their natural course.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) ''Fiume'' is also the Italian name of the Croatian city of Rijeka.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}