bolgia

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Italian bolgia (“ditch, trench”), from Old French bolge, bouge, from Late Latin bulga (“wallet, purse”), from Gaulish bolgā, from Proto-Celtic *bolgos (“sack, bag”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- (“to swell”). Doublet of budge and bulge.

Noun

bolgia (plural bolgias or bolge)

1. Any of the divisions of the eighth circle of Hell, Malebolge, in Dante's Divine Comedy.

Anagrams

• Baglio, go bail

Italian

Etymology

Probably borrowed from Old French bolge, bouge, from Late Latin bulga (“wallet, purse”) (or less likely directly from an adjectival form bulgea), from Gaulish bolgā, from Proto-Celtic *bolgos (“sack, bag”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- (“to swell”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔl.d͡ʒa/
• Rhymes: -ɔldʒa
• Hyphenation: bòl‧gia

Noun

bolgia f (plural bolge)

1. (archaic) a bag, a pouch, especially one which opens longways

   Hypernyms: borsa f, bisaccia f

2. (archaic) a ditch, a trench, a hole in the ground

   Synonyms: fossa f, fosso m, fossato m

3. a bolgia (division in Dante's Inferno)
   • 1308–1321, Dante Alighieri (translated by Robert and Jean Hollander, 2000), Commedìa (The Inferno), canto 23, lines 31–33:

     S'elli è che sì la destra costa giaccia,
     che noi possiam ne l'altra bolgia scendere,
     noi fuggirem l'imaginata caccia.

     If the slope there to the right allows us
     to make our way into the other ditch,
     we shall escape the chase we both envision.

4. (figuratively) a mob or crowd of people in a confined space; a bedlam

   Synonyms: babele f, babilonia f, inferno m, (colloquial) bordello m, (colloquial) casino m, bailamme m, marasma m

Derived terms

• bolgetta f
• Malebolge f pl
• sbolgiare

Anagrams

• Baglio, baglio