razzo

Italian

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin radius. Doublet of raggio, radio, and rai, which were respectively inherited from Latin, borrowed from Latin, and borrowed from Occitan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrad.d͡zo/
• Rhymes: -addzo
• Hyphenation: ràz‧zo

Noun

razzo m (plural razzi)

1. skyrocket (firework)
   • 1559, Canti carnascialeschi, page 422:

     Fannosi i razzi, in più varie maniere;
     Questi qui scoppian solo:
     Quest'altri vanno à volo
     Verso le stelle; e sol fan bel vedere:
     Questi han doppio potere,
     E letizia in lor varia,
     Che girando, e scoppiando van per l'aria

     Skyrockets are made in many different ways: some just explode; some others fly towards the stars, and are just a pretty sight; some have double power, and the amusement in them differs, while they go around the air and blow up.

2. Ellipsis of razzo di segnalazione.
3. rocket (rocket engine)
4. (military) rocket (non guided missile)
5. (obsolete) Alternative form of raggio (“ray, beam”)
   • 13^th c., Dante Alighieri, “De gli occhi de la mia donna si move”, in Società Dantesca Italiana, editor, Rime [Rhymes]‎^[1], Florence, published 1960, lines 1–6, collected in Le Opere di Dante:

     De gli occhi de la mia donna si move
     un lume sì gentil, che dove appare
     si veggion cose ch’uom non pò ritrare
     per loro altezza e per lor esser nove:
     e de’ suoi razzi sovra ’l meo cor piove
     tanta paura, che mi fa tremare

     From my mistress' eyes comes a light so gentle that, where it arrives, one sees things a man cannot report, for they are so elevated and new; and from her rays rains upon my heart such fear that it makes me tremble

   • 1348, Giovanni Villani, “Libro Tredecimo [Thirteenth Book]”, in Nuova Cronica [New Chronicle]‎^[2], published 1991, section 18:

     Il terzo quartiere fu tutto il sesto di Borgo e quello di San Brancazio, e chiamarlo il quartiere di Santa Maria Novella, coll’arme il campo azurro e uno sole con razzi d’oro.

     The third neighbourhood/neighborhood was the whole part of Borgo and that of San Pancrazio, and was called the neighbourhood/neighborhood of Santa Maria Novella, with the coat of arms with an azure field, and a sun with golden rays.

6. (regional) spoke (part of a wheel)

   Synonym: razza

   • 1909, Luigi Pirandello, I vecchi e i giovani [The Elderly and the Young]:

     su la catasta formata dai razzi delle ruote, dagli sportelli, dai sedili, erano stati gettati i miserandi resti irriconoscibili dei due corpi

     on the stack made from the wheels' spokes, the doors, [and] the seats, the miserable remains of the two bodies were thrown

Derived terms

• arrazzare
• razza
• razzare
• razziera

Etymology 2

Apheresis from arazzo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrat.t͡so/
• Rhymes: -attso
• Hyphenation: ràz‧zo

Noun

razzo m (plural razzi)

1. Aphetic form of arazzo (“tapestry”)
   • 1557, Sperone Speroni, Lettera a Giulia Sperona, published 1740, page 52, collected in Opere di M. Sperone Speroni degli Alvarotti - Tomo quinto:

     Fa che la casa sia apparecchiata , come t'ho scritto , delle spalliere del Bassan in sala e da basso , e di razzi nella camera , ove dormo

     Make it so that the house is furnished, as I wrote you, with Bassan's hangers in the living room and downstairs, and with tapestries in the room where I'll be sleeping.

Further reading

• rażżo in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• razzo in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• rozza