stillicidio

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin stīllicidium (“water falling drop by drop”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stil.liˈt͡ʃi.djo/
• Rhymes: -idjo
• Hyphenation: stil‧li‧cì‧dio

Noun

stillicidio m (plural stillicidi)

1. a slow, steady trickle or dripping

   Synonyms: (literary) gemichio, (uncommon) stillamento

2. (figurative) a continuous repetition of something annoying or tedious

   Synonym: (familiar) continuo

   • 2013, Paolo Sorrentino, 01:47:52 from the start, in La grande bellezza, spoken by Jep Gambardella (Toni Servillo):

     Stefania, sono quarant'anni che perdo colpi, uno stillicidio.

     Stefania, I've been losing my touch for forty years now, it's never-ending.

     (literally, “Stefania, it's forty years that I'm losing shots, a trickle.”)

Derived terms

• stillicidioso

Related terms

• stilla
• stillamento
• stillare

 

Further reading

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

Latin

Noun

stīllicidiō

1. dative/ablative singular of stīllicidium