incendio Italian · revision 39164

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=13th century, Cronica fiorentina|origins=la candeō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /inˈt͡ʃɛn.djo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''incendio''' ''m'' (plural incendi)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also wrote the plural ''incendii''.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|incendium|t=fire, conflagration]], a learned word.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(DEI|1984) The Latin noun comes from [[m|la|incendō|t=to set on fire, burn]], a compound of the intensive prefix [[m|la|in-]] and a verb related to [[m|la|candeō|t=to glow, be hot]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) The verb [[incendere]] itself was long used by Italian writers and is still found in old texts and dialects.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The same learned word is [[fr|incendie]], recorded from 1602, and [[es|incendio]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|1984) The adjective [[incendiario]] is formed from the noun as early as the 13th century, though it has a model in Latin [[m|la|incendiārius]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The verb [[incendiare]] is a denominal formation within the language; it appears in 1680 but won through only in the 19th century, when purists such as Ugolini (1855) still argued for it as a necessary word against the older verb.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in a 13th-century Florentine chronicle, under the year 1159, for a large fire that destroys property.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) A Florentine text tells how a feud in the city brought “great slaughter, robbery and fires” (''gran mortalità di rubamenti e d'incendi'').^(GDLI) DEI dates the word only to the 14th century.^(DEI|1984)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative sense “burning, overwhelming passion” is almost as old: Bono Giamboni has it before 1292.^(DELI 1999) Dante uses the word both ways: in the ''Convivio'' love is a “multiplied fire” that must show itself outside, and in the ''Inferno'' violence against a neighbour's goods brings “ruin, fires and harmful extortions”.^(GDLI) Petrarch speaks of the fire that consumes him, which pity only increases.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ Later writers used ''incendio'' for the eruption of a volcano and for anything that blazes like a fire.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The modern dictionaries list, besides the fire and the passion, the sudden outbreak of a war or another catastrophe and, in literary use, an intense light such as a sunset.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) In law a fire may be accidental, negligent (''colposo'') or deliberate (''doloso''), the last two being offences.^(GDLI)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 13th century – A Florentine chronicle records ''incendio'' under the year 1159.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for a burning passion, and ''incendiario'' “causing fire”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses ''incendiario'' for one who sets fires.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1602 – French ''incendie'' is first recorded.^(DEI|1984)

+ * 1680 – The verb ''incendiare'' appears.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1818 – Leopardi uses ''incendiare'' for “to inflame, excite”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1855 – Ugolini's dictionary pleads for ''incendiare'' as a needed word.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large, destructive [[m|en|fire]] that tends to spread: ''I vigili del fuoco hanno spento l'incendio della fabbrica in due ore.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A sudden, violent outburst of a [[passione|alt=passion]] or feeling: ''l'incendio della gelosia''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The sudden outbreak of a war or another devastating event: ''l'incendio della rivolta''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative, literary)'' An intense light, a [[bagliore|alt=glare]]: ''l'incendio del cielo all'alba''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[incendiare]]

+ * [[incendiario]]

+ * [[antincendio]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[incendere]]

+ * [[accendere]]

+ * [[candela]]

+ * [[incenso]]

+ * [[la|incendium]]

+ * [[fr|incendie]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ An ''incendio doloso'' is arson, a fire set on purpose; an ''incendio colposo'' is caused by negligence.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011) A ''bocca d'incendio'' is a fire hydrant.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}