English
fiasco
Fiasco comes from Italian fiasco ‘bottle, flask’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *flaskǭ.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*flaskǭ‘bottle’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*flaskā‘bottle, flask’reconstructed
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEflasca‘bottle, container’
- Italianc. 1300–presentfiasco‘bottle, flask’
- Englishearliest quotation 1898fiasco
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*flaskǭ‘bottle’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*flaskā‘bottle, flask’reconstructed
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEflasca‘bottle, container’
- Italianc. 1300–presentfiasco‘bottle, flask’
- Englishearliest quotation 1898fiasco
Earliest quotation: 1898, Clement Fezandié: “Well, doctor," said Mr. Curtis, heartily, "I am glad…”
The story
“Failure” sense comes through French faire fiasco from Italian theatrical slang far fiasco (literally “to make a bottle”), of uncertain origin; perhaps from an expression fare il fiasco, meaning to play a game with the forfeit that the loser will buy the next bottle or round of drinks.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to weave’
apply, complex, display, employment, reply, employ, explicit, exploitation, exploit, imply, deploy, replica, implicit, ploy, complication, ply, inexplicable, complicate, flax, accomplice, flack, supple, complicity, implicate, plexus, supplication, pliable, triplicate, explication, splay, flagon, pliant, 34 more
through Frankish *flaskā ‘bottle, flask’
Today it means
noun A sudden or unexpected failure.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *flaskǭ / fiasco