selvaggio

Italian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Occitan salvatge, from Vulgar Latin *salvāticus, from Latin silvāticus (“of the woods”). Doublet of the inherited selvatico. Compare Portuguese selvagem, Catalan salvatge.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /selˈvad.d͡ʒo/, [s̪el̺ˈvädd͡ʒo̞]
  • Rhymes: -addʒo
  • Stress: selvàggio
  • Hyphenation: sel‧vag‧gio

Adjective

selvaggio (feminine singular selvaggia, masculine plural selvaggi, feminine plural selvagge)

  1. (of flora or fauna) wild, savage
    • 1321, Dante Alighieri, La divina commedia: Inferno [The Divine Comedy: Hell] (paperback), 12th edition, Le Monnier, published 1994, Canto I, lines 4–6, page 6:
      Ahi quanto a dir qual era è cosa dura ¶ esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte ¶ che nel pensier rinova la paura!
      Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say what was this forest savage, rough, and stern, which in the very thought renews the fear
    Synonym: selvatico
  2. (of people) savage, primitive
  3. ferocious
  4. brutal, cruel (torture)

Noun

selvaggio m (plural selvaggi)

  1. savage

Derived terms
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