sfumato (adj.)

denoting a style of painting in which tones are blended and outlines blurred and dim, giving a misty or smoky appearance, 1847, from Italian sfumato, literally "smoked," from Latin fumus "smoke," from PIE root *dheu- (1) "dust, vapor, smoke." The prefix seems to be unetymological (compare sbirro). Other Italian words in sf- that ever lived in English include sforzando, the musical instruction; sfogato "exhaled" (also in music); and sgraffiti as an art term.

also from 1847

Entries linking to sfumato

sbirro (n.)

Italian police officer, 1660s, from Italian, "police officer, constable" (plural sbirri), from Late Latin birrus "red," from Greek pyrros "red," literally "fire-colored," from pyr "fire" (from PIE root *paewr- "fire"). With unetymological prefix (compare Spanish esbirro "henchman, minion," also Italian sbarra "barrier, cross-bar," etc.). Probably so called from the original color of the uniform.

sforzando (adj.)

musical instruction, "with sudden energy or impulse" (especially applied to a single tone or chord made prominent), 1801, from Italian sforzando, literally "forced, pressed," present participle of sforza "to force," from Vulgar Latin *exfortiare "to show strength" (see effort).

*dheu- (1)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "dust, vapor, smoke."

It forms all or part of: enthymeme; fewmet; fume; fumigation; funk; perfume; sfumato; typhoid; typhoon; typhus.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit dhuma- "smoke, fume;" Greek thymos "spirit, courage, anger," thymiao "fumigate," thymin "incense;" Latin fumus "smoke, steam, fume;" Lithuanian dūmai "smoke" (plural); Old Prussian dumis "smoke;" Old Church Slavonic dymu "smoke;" Middle Irish dumacha "fog;" perhaps Old High German toum "steam, vapor."

Trends of sfumato

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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nice

late 13c., "foolish, ignorant, frivolous, senseless," from Old French nice (12c.) "careless, clumsy; weak; poor, needy; simple, stupid, silly, foolish," from Latin nescius "ignorant, unaware," literally "not-knowing," from ne- "not" (from PIE root *ne- "not") + stem of scire "to

interpret

late 14c., "expound the meaning of, render clear or explicit," from Old French interpreter "explain; translate" (13c.) and directly from Latin interpretari "explain, expound, understand," from interpres "agent, translator," from inter "between" (see inter-) + second element proba

ordeal

Old English ordel, ordal, "trial by physical test," literally "judgment, verdict," from Proto-Germanic noun *uz-dailjam "a portioning out, judgment" (source also of Old Saxon urdeli, Old Frisian urdel, Dutch oordeel, German urteil "judgment"), literally "that which is dealt out"

Jupiter

also Juppiter, c. 1200, "supreme deity of the ancient Romans," from Latin Iupeter, Iupiter, Iuppiter, "Jove, god of the sky and chief of the gods," from PIE *dyeu-peter- "god-father" (originally vocative, "the name naturally occurring most frequently in invocations" [Tucker]), fr

ether

late 14c., "upper regions of space," from Old French ether (12c.) and directly from Latin aether "the upper pure, bright air; sky, firmament," from Greek aithēr "upper air; bright, purer air; the sky" (opposed to aēr "the lower air"), from aithein "to burn, shine," from PIE *aidh

salvation

c. 1200, savacioun, saluatiun, sauvacioun, etc., originally in the Christian sense, "the saving of the soul, deliverance from the power of sin and admission to eternal bliss," from Old French salvaciun and directly from Late Latin salvationem (nominative salvatio, a Church Latin

finance

c. 1400, "an end, settlement, retribution," from Old French finance "end, ending; pardon, remission; payment, expense; settlement of a debt" (13c.), noun of action from finer "to end, settle a dispute or debt," from fin (see fine (n.)). Compare Medieval Latin finis "a payment in

perspective

late 14c., perspectif, "the science of optics," from Old French perspective and directly from Medieval Latin perspectiva ars "science of optics," from fem. of perspectivus "of sight, optical" from Latin perspectus "clearly perceived," past participle of perspicere "inspect, look

curmudgeon

"churlish, miserly fellow, mean man," 1570s, of unknown origin. Drant (1568) translating Gregory of Nazianus, calls someone "a bolde curmogine chuffe." Liberman says the word "must have been borrowed from Gaelic" (and references muigean "disagreeable person"), with variant spelli

hocus-pocus

magical formula used in conjuring, 1630s, earlier Hocas Pocas, common name of a magician or juggler (1620s); a sham-Latin invocation used by jugglers, perhaps based on a perversion of the sacramental blessing from the Mass, Hoc est corpus meum "This is my body." The first to make

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updated on July 12, 2022

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