ordigno

Italian

FWOTD – 16 August 2022

Alternative forms

• ordegno (regional or archaic)

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *ōrdinium, from Latin ōrdō (“order”). Compare Portuguese ordenhar and Spanish ordeñar, which took on specialized senses.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /orˈdiɲ.ɲo/
• Rhymes: -iɲɲo
• Hyphenation: or‧dì‧gno

Noun

ordigno m (plural ordigni)

1. a complex device; contraption
2. an explosive device, a bomb

   Synonym: bomba

3. (dialectal) tool

   Synonym: attrezzo

4. (figurative, obsolete) composition, makeup, structure

   Synonym: struttura

   • 1321, Dante Alighieri, La divina commedia: Inferno [The Divine Comedy: Hell], 12th edition (paperback), Le Monnier, published 1994, Canto XVIII, pages 266–267, lines 1–6:

     Luogo è in inferno detto Malebolge, ¶ tutto di pietra di color ferrigno, ¶ come la cerchia che dintorno il volge. ¶ Nel dritto mezzo del campo maligno ¶ vaneggia un pozzo assai largo e profondo, ¶ di cui suo loco dicerò l’ordigno.

     There is a place in Hell called Malebolge, wholly of stone and of an iron color, as is the circle that around it turns. Right in the middle of the field malign there yawns a well exceeding wide and deep, of which its place the structure will recount.

Related terms

• ordinare

Further reading

ordigno in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• godroni, ingordo