fiamma

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Italian fiamma (“flame”).

Noun

fiamma (plural fiamme)

1. (volcanology) A "flame structure" found in welded ignimbrite and tuff: a small, dark lens of glassy material (possibly pumice which was compressed or collapsed during welding).
   • 1966, Bulletin Volcanologique, page 88:

     […] black glass from "fiamma" of ignimbrites from Zavaritzkiy caldera in Simushir Is.

   • 1993, Jocelyn McPhie, Mark Doyle, Rodney Leslie Allen, Volcanic Textures: A Guide to the Interpretation of Textures, page 135:

     […] the largest fiamma in the centre of the photograph has responded in a brittle fashion to […]

   • 1993, Alexander R. McBirney, Igneous Petrology, page 359:

     […] lenticular "fiamme" of dense black glass. In (d), devitrification has produced radiating spherulites that have grown outward from centers around phenocrysts and across the original shards of glass.

   • 2008, Kenneth Thomson, Nick Petford, Structure and Emplacement of High-level Magmatic Systems, page 214:

     […] total phenocryst content in fiamme of pyroclastic rocks and in matrix of coherent rhyolitic rocks; data see Tables 1 and 2; (d) aspect ratio v. maximum particle size (mps) of fiamme (note: this diagram shows field measurements not presented in tables […]

Italian

Etymology

From Latin flamma, from Proto-Italic *flāgmā, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥h₂gmeh₂, derived from an extension of the root *bʰel- (“shiny, white”). Compare French flamme, Portuguese chama, Spanish llama.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfjam.ma/
• Rhymes: -amma
• Hyphenation: fiàm‧ma

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

fiamma f (plural fiamme)

1. flame (part of fire)
2. (figurative) flame (romantic partner)
3. (figurative) flame (burning sentiment)
4. (nautical) pennant, pennon
5. (military) flash

Derived terms

• fiammeggiare
• fiammella

Related terms

• fiammante
• fiammare
• fiammeggiante
• fiammeo
• fiammifero
• flammeo
• infiammare

Noun

fiamma m (invariable)

1. (siderurgy) a worker who cuts metal using a cutting torch

   Synonyms: bruciaferro, fiammista, ossigenista

See also

• fiaccola (“torch”)
• fuoco (“fire”)

Further reading

• “fiamma¹”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026
• “fiamma²”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026