figo Italian · revision 38766

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=derivation|origins=la fīcus}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈfi.ɡo/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''figo''' (feminine figa, masculine plural fighi, feminine plural fighe, superlative fighissimo)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the northern form of the slang [[fico]] “cool, attractive”, with the /k/ voiced to /g/ as in the northern dialects.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) Most dictionaries derive that word from [[fica]] “vulva”: Nocentini explains it as a masculine made from the feminine, a crude compliment that women turned on men as men did on women, whose crudeness faded through the association with the word for “fig”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020) GDLI also calls it probably derived from the feminine noun.^(GDLI) Treccani takes it from the word for “fig”, perhaps with reference to the feminine.^(Treccani 2011) Wiktionary instead traces it to a Romanesco clipping of ⟨ficaccio⟩, an altered form of [[efficace|t=effective]], and denies any link with the vulgar noun; the LEI records Romanesco ⟨ficaccia⟩ “effective” in Belli (1835).^(Wiktionary)^(LEI|21, 235)

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+ The feminine noun itself comes from [[la-lat|fīca]], the plural of [[m|la|fīcum|t=fig]] taken as a feminine singular, from [[m|la|fīcus|t=fig tree; fig]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The slang ''fico'' is dated to 1972, and the dictionaries list ''figo'' as its regional northern form.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ GDLI's supplement quotes the word from Pasolini's Roman novels (“sei er mejo figo de la borgata”, “you're the coolest guy in the neighbourhood”) and, from later fiction, both for an attractive or self-assured person and for something fashionable or fun.^(GDLI) In youth slang it praises people and things alike, and Treccani records the diminutives ''fighetto'' and ''fighino'' for a vain young man.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011) The superlative is ''fighissimo''.^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(slang, especially northern)'' [[m|en|cool]], [[m|en|great]]; of a person, attractive, likeable or stylish: ''Il tuo nuovo amico è proprio figo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(slang)'' Of a thing or place, fashionable, fun: ''Abbiamo trovato un locale figo vicino al porto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GDLI)

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+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(slang)'' An attractive or [[m|en|charismatic]] man: ''Si crede un gran figo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fighetto]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fico]]

+ * [[fica]]

+ * [[sfigato]]

+ * [[sfiga]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Old Italian ''figo'' was also a northern form of ''fico'' “fig” (13th–14th centuries); Dante uses it in rhyme.^(DEI|1636)^(Prati 1951|437)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(TLIO) The feminine ''figa'' is also a vulgar noun (a variant of ''fica'').^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}