Italian

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Etymology

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From a- (towards) +‎ barbagliare (to sparkle, shine).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ab.bar.baʎˈʎa.re/
  • Rhymes: -are
  • Hyphenation: ab‧bar‧ba‧glià‧re

Verb

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abbarbagliàre (first-person singular present abbarbàglio, first-person singular past historic abbarbagliài, past participle abbarbagliàto, auxiliary avére)

  1. (transitive or intransitive) to dazzle [auxiliary avere]
    Synonyms: abbacinare, abbagliare
    • 1516–1532, Ludovico Ariosto, “Canto 22”, in Orlando furioso, stanza 86; republished as Santorre Debenedetti, editor, Bari: Laterza, 1928:
      Chi di qua, chi di lá cade per terra:
      lo scudo non pur lor gli occhi abbarbaglia,
      ma fa che ogn’altro senso attonito erra.
      People, here and there, fall to the ground. The shield not only dazzles their eyes, but also makes every other sense wander astonished.
    • 18181836, Giacomo Leopardi, “XXXIV — La ginestra, o Il fiore del deserto”, in Canti, lines 13–15; republished as Alessandro Donati, editor, Bari: publ. Laterza, 1917:
      S’apre il ciel, cade il soffio, in ogni canto
      posan l’erbe e le frondi, e m’abbarbaglia
      le luci il crudo sol pregne di pianto.
      The sky clears up, the wind dies down, everywhere the leaves and grasses rest, and the cruel sun dazzles my eyes with light, filled with tears.
  2. (figurative, transitive) to astonish
    Synonyms: abbacinare, affascinare, ammaliare, incantare, rapire, stordire, stregare, stupire
    • 1867, Ippolito Nievo, “Capitolo ottavo”, in Le confessioni di un ottuagenario[1], Florence: Le Monnier, page 394:
      Io capiva e non capiva; era abbarbagliato da quelle splendide e sonanti parole, che prima mi balenavano alla mente con quei grandi fantasmi d’umanità, di religione, di sacrifizio, di fede che popolano così volentieri i mondi sognati dai giovani.
      I had trouble understanding. I was astonished by those resounding, marvelous words, that for the first time appeared in my mind, along with those great illusions of humanity, of religion, of sacrifice, of faith, that so gladly inhabit the worlds dreamed by young people.
      (literally, “I understood and didn't understand. I was dazzled by those splendid, resounding words, that first flashed to my mind with those great ghosts of humanity, of religion, of sacrifice, of faith that populate so gladly the worlds dreamed by the young.”)

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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Anagrams

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