fiamma Italian · revision 39222

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1250, Giacomo da Lentini|origins=ine-pro *bʰl̥g-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈfjam.ma/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fiamma''' ''f'' (plural fiamme)^(Wiktionary)

+ Earlier forms include [[roa-oit|flamma]], [[roa-oit|flama]], [[roa-oit|fiama]] and [[roa-oit|fiamba]].^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|flamma]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The word is pan-Romance: [[fr|flamme]] (borrowed as [[en|flame]] and [[de|Flamme]]), [[oc|flama]], [[ca|flama]], [[es|llama]], [[pt|chama]], Sardinian [[m|sc|fiama]] and [[ro|flamă|t=drought]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) Meyer-Lübke adds [[fur|flame]].^(REW 1935)

+

+ Latin [[m|la|flamma]] comes from [[itc-pro|*flagmā]], from the same root as [[m|la|flagrō|t=to blaze]] and, with another vowel, [[m|la|fulgeō|t=to flash]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan reconstructs [[ine-pro|*bʰl̥g-mh₂-|t=flame]], from the zero grade of [[m|ine-pro|*bʰl̥g-|t=to shine]], beside the o-grade of [[grc|φλογμός|tr=phlogmós|t=flame]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Devoto explains the double /m/ as an expressive doubling of an earlier [[m|la|*flāma]].^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ GRADIT's first date is before 1250, in Giacomo da Lentini, for the figurative sense of ardent love.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999) The literal sense, a tongue of fire from burning gas, is first recorded in Bono Giamboni, before 1292.^(DELI 1999) Nocentini dates the word to the early 13th century, and the TLIO's first text is the Venetian ''Proverbia que dicuntur''.^(Nocentini 2010)^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian used ''fiamma'' in many set phrases: ''mettere a fuoco e a fiamma'', “to lay waste with fire”, ''a ferro e a fiamma'', “with sword and fire”, and the ''giudizio delle fiamme'', “death at the stake”.^(TLIO) Figurative senses were early: love (before 1250), the person loved (before 1333, Simintendi) and a bright red colour (before 1348, Giovanni Villani).^(DELI 1999) Dante's line ''conosco i segni dell'antica fiamma'' (“I know the signs of the old flame”) is often quoted.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ From its shape the word also named a long, narrow pennant flown from a ship's mast (before 1580, Vincenzo Borghini) and, in the plural, the coloured collar patches that tell military corps apart (1918).^(DELI 1999) The phrase ''nuovo fiammante'', “brand new” (before 1652), started from coins shining fresh from the mint;^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) ''fiammata'', a quick blaze (1699) and a brief burst of feeling (1892), comes from the old verb ''fiammare''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''fiamma'' for ardent love.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for a flame.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses ''fiammeggiare'' and ''fiammeggiante''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1333 – Simintendi uses it for a beloved person.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for a bright red colour.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1580 – Vincenzo Borghini uses it for a ship's pennant.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1918 – The plural ''fiamme'' is recorded for military collar patches.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1956 – ''Fiamma'' is recorded for a steelworker who cuts scrap with a torch.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|flame]], a tongue of burning gas: ''Abbassa la fiamma sotto la pentola.''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(chiefly plural)'' Fire, a blaze: ''andare in fiamme'', to catch fire, ''dare alle fiamme'', to set on fire.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' An intense feeling, passion or [[m|en|ardour]]: ''la fiamma della fede''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' A sweetheart, a person one is in love with: ''Alla festa ha incontrato una sua vecchia fiamma.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A bright red colour; as an invariable adjective, flame-red: ''rosso fiamma''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A pennant; a triangular flag in the national colours flown by ships, ''(military)'' a flame-shaped collar patch.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(chemistry)'' The light and heat produced by rapid oxidation of a fuel: ''fiamma ossiacetilenica''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fiammata]]

+ * [[fiammante]]

+ * [[fiammeggiare]]

+ * [[fiammeggiante]]

+ * [[fiammato]]

+ * [[fiammella]]

+ * [[fiammifero]]

+ * [[infiammare]]

+ * [[infiammabile]]

+ * [[infiammazione]]

+ * [[sfiammare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[flagrante]]

+ * [[folgore]]

+ * [[fulmine]]

+ * [[la|flamma]]

+ * [[fr|flamme]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Fiamma'' is also a masculine invariable noun, ''il fiamma'' (1956), for a steelworker who cuts scrap iron with an oxyacetylene torch, also called ''fiammista''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) GDLI records ''fiamma'' as a Tuscan name of broomrape, a parasitic plant that leaves its hosts looking scorched, and of the fish ''Cepola''.^(GDLI|5, 907) ''Ritorno di fiamma'' is a backfire in an engine and, figuratively, the rekindling of an old passion.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}