fioco

Italian

Etymology

Akin to fiacco (“tired, feeble”), from Latin flaccus (“flabby, flaccid”), possibly with contamination of roco, rauco (“hoarse”). Compare also German flau (“weak”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfjɔ.ko/
• Rhymes: -ɔko
• Hyphenation: fiò‧co

Adjective

fioco (feminine fioca, masculine plural fiochi, feminine plural fioche)

1. hoarse, feeble, weak, faint
2. dim, wan
   • 1300s–1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto I”, in Inferno [Hell]‎^[1], lines 61–63; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate]‎^[2], 2^nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:

     Mentre ch’i’ rovinava in basso loco, ¶ dinanzi a li occhi mi si fu offerto ¶ chi per lungo silenzio parea fioco.

     While I was rushing downward to the lowland, before my eyes presented himself he who looked dim due to long-continued silence.

Derived terms

• fiocamente
• infiochire

Further reading

• fioco in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• Pianigiani, Ottorino (1907) “fioco”, in Vocabolario etimologico della lingua italiana (in Italian), Rome: Albrighi & Segati

Anagrams

• ciofo