folle Italian · revision 39168

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 12th century, Proverbia que dicuntur|origins=la follis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈfɔl.le/, /ˈfol.le/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''folle''' ''m or f'' by sense (plural folli)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|fol]], [[roa-oit|follo]] and [[roa-oit|folo]].^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|follis|t=leather bag, bellows; ball]], through its accusative.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The meaning passed by metaphor from a bag full of air or a ball to an empty head, and so to a fool.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) DEI notes that the word was already used as an adjective in 6th-century France, in the “Life of Caesarius of Arles”.^(DEI|1678) Nocentini calls it a Romance formation from the Latin word, shared with [[fr|fou]] and [[oc|fol]];^(Nocentini 2010) [[ca|foll]] belongs here too, and [[es|fol]] was borrowed from Occitan.^(Körting 1907)^(REW 1935)^(DEI|1678) Zaccaria reported older proposals of a Germanic origin, such as a word for “full, drunk”, but the Latin etymology is accepted by all the modern dictionaries.^(Zaccaria 1901)^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The literal sense of the Latin word lives on in [[es|fuelle|t=bellows]], [[pt|folle]], [[ro|foale]], [[sc|foḍḍe]] and [[vec|folo]], from which come Italian [[folata]] and [[refolo]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The Latin noun is related to [[m|la|flō|t=to blow]] and has close comparisons in [[goh|ballo|t=ball]] and [[non|bǫllr]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(OLD 2012) Wiktionary derives it from the root [[ine-pro|*bʰelǵʰ-|t=to swell]] or [[ine-pro|*bʰel-|t=to blow]]; de Vaan compares only Celtic words and leaves the origin open.^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur'' of the late 12th century.^(TLIO) DELI's earliest dates are before 1249 in Pier della Vigna, of something done without sense, and before 1250 in Giacomo da Lentini, of a person who acts without reason, “mad”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian ''folle'' meant mad from illness, but also rash, foolish, mad with love, insolent, and, of love, carnal or lustful.^(TLIO) Giovanni Villani writes of ''un folle e matto cavaliere'' who rose up in a time of turmoil, and an old proverb says ''chi folle invia, folle attende'' (“send a fool, expect a fool”), that errands should be given to the wise.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Derivatives appeared early: ''folleggiare'' in the early 13th century, ''follia'' before 1250, and ''folletto'', a sprite, in Dante.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ In 1892 the word took on a mechanical sense: a part that turns idle without passing on the motion.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) From it comes ''in folle'', of a gearbox in neutral.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) In colloquial speech ''folle'' also means huge or excessive, as in a ''prezzo folle''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) ''Amare alla follia'' copies French ''aimer à la folie'', criticized by Panzini in 1905.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * Before 1249 – Pier della Vigna uses ''folle'' of a senseless deed.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses it of a person, “mad”, ''follia'' appears at the same time.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses the derivative ''folletto''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1838 – ''Invaghito alla follia'' (“madly infatuated”) is recorded in the Milanese press.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1892 – The mechanical sense “turning idle” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|mad]], insane, out of one's mind; also as a noun, a madman or madwoman: ''Lo guardava con gli occhi di un folle.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Rash, reckless, irrational: ''Sei stato folle a guidare con questa nebbia.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # Beside oneself with a feeling (''folle di gelosia''); ''essere folle di qualcuno'' is to be madly in love with them.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Of an act or an idea, senseless, foolish: ''un progetto folle''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Of a feeling, uncontrollable: ''un desiderio folle''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' Very great; excessive, exorbitant: ''una fretta folle'', ''prezzi folli''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(mechanics)'' Of a gear or wheel, turning [[m|en|idle]], disengaged, ''in folle'' means in [[m|en|neutral]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[folleggiare]]

+ * [[folleggiatore]]

+ * [[folletto]]

+ * [[follia]]

+ * [[follemente]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[folata]]

+ * [[fr|fou]]

+ * [[la|follis]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Folle'' is pronounced with an open ''o'', and also with a closed one.^(Wiktionary)^(Treccani 2011) Several rarer words share the spelling: the archaic noun ''folle'' “bellows”, a learned borrowing of the same Latin word (Tasso compares the lung to ''mantice o folle''),^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) the ''folle'', a bronze coin of the late Roman Empire and Byzantium,^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI)^(DEI|1679) and ''folle bianca'', a vine grape, from French ''folle-blanche'' (1956).^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}