fiasco

English

WOTD – 9 November 2007

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian fiasco (“bottle, flask”), from Late Latin flasca, flascō (“bottle, container”), from Frankish *flaska (“bottle, flask”) from Proto-Germanic *flaskǭ (“bottle”); see flask. “Failure” sense comes through French faire fiasco from Italian theatrical slang far fiasco (literally “to make a bottle”), of uncertain origin; perhaps from an expression fare il fiasco, meaning to play a game with the forfeit that the loser will buy the next bottle or round of drinks.[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fiˈæs.kəʊ/
  • (file)
  • (file)

Noun

A fiasco of Chianti (sense 3)

fiasco (plural fiascos or fiascoes)

  1. A sudden or unexpected failure.
  2. A ludicrous or humiliating situation. Some effort that went quite wrong.
    Synonym: debacle
  3. A wine bottle in a (usually straw) jacket.

Translations

See also

  • fiasci (hypercorrect plural)
  • fiaschi (Italianate plural; often considered pedantic)

References

  1. Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “fiasco”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Further reading

Anagrams

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian fiasco.

Pronunciation

Noun

fiasco m (plural fiascos)

  1. fiasco (situation)

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian fiasco. Doublet of flasque.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fjas.ko/
  • (file)

Noun

fiasco m (plural fiascos)

  1. fiasco (situation)
  2. fiasco (bottle)

Further reading

Italian

Etymology

From Late Latin flascō, flasca (“bottle, container”), from Old Frankish *flaska (“bottle, flask”), from Proto-Germanic *flaskǭ (“bottle”), from Proto-Germanic *flehtaną (“to plait”), from Proto-Indo-European *plek- (“to weave, braid”). Akin to Old High German flasca (“flask”), Old English flasce, flaxe (“bottle”). More at flask.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈfja.sko/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -asko
  • Hyphenation: fià‧sco

Noun

fiasco m (plural fiaschi)

  1. flask
  2. fiasco
  3. flagon
  4. (figuratively) debacle, failure

Descendants

  • → Danish: fiasko
  • → English: fiasco
  • → French: fiasco
  • → Polish: fiasko
  • → Portuguese: fiasco
  • → Spanish: fiasco
  • → Swedish: fiasko
  • → Turkish: fiyasko

Anagrams

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian fiasco.[1] Doublet of frasco.

Pronunciation

 
  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /fiˈas.ku/ [fɪˈas.ku], (faster pronunciation) /ˈfjas.ku/
    • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA(key): /fiˈaʃ.ku/ [fɪˈaʃ.ku], (faster pronunciation) /ˈfjaʃ.ku/
    • (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /fiˈas.ko/ [fɪˈas.ko], (faster pronunciation) /ˈfjas.ko/

  • Rhymes: (Brazil) -asku, (Portugal, Rio de Janeiro) -aʃku
  • Hyphenation: fi‧as‧co

Noun

fiasco m (plural fiascos)

  1. fiasco (ludicrous or humiliating situation)
    Synonym: fracasso

See also

References

  1. “fiasco” in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2023.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian fiasco.

Noun

fiasco n (uncountable)

  1. fiasco.

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian fiasco. Doublet of frasco.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈfjasko/ [ˈfjas.ko]
  • Rhymes: -asko
  • Syllabification: fias‧co

Noun

fiasco m (plural fiascos)

  1. fiasco
    Synonym: fracaso

Further reading

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