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Italian
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Vulgar Latin *pūtium, derived from Latin pūteō.
Alternative forms
Noun
puzzo m (plural puzzi)
- (bad) smell, stink, stench
- Synonyms: fetore, (literary) leppo, lezzo, (literary) mefite, (obsolete) nidore, olezzo, (literary, obsolete) putore, puzza, (obsolete) puzzore, tanfo
- Antonyms: aroma, effluvio, fragranza, (literary) olezzo, profumo
mid 1300s–mid 1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto IX”, in Inferno [Hell], lines 31–33; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate], 2nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:Questa palude che ’l gran puzzo spira
cigne dintorno la città dolente,
u’ non potemo intrare omai sanz’ira- That is the lowest region and the darkest, and farthest from the heaven which circles all. Well know I the way; therefore be reassured. This fen, which a prodigious stench exhales, encompasses about the city dolent, where now we cannot enter without anger.
- (figurative) hint, suspicion, inkling
- Synonyms: indizio, sentore
- Sento puzzo d'imbroglio in tutta questa faccenda. ― This whole affair stinks of fraud. (literally, “I smell stink of fraud in this whole affair.”)
- (figurative, rare) an annoyingly excessive fuss (about something)
- Quanto puzzo per nulla! ― All this fuss about nothing! (literally, “How much fuss for nothing!”)
Derived terms
Related terms
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
puzzo
- first-person singular present indicative of puzzare
Further reading
- puzzo in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana