fianco

See also: fianĉo

Italian

Etymology

From Frankish *hlanca, from Proto-Germanic *hlankaz (“flexible", "to bend”), from Proto-Indo-European *kleng- (“to bend”), see also Old High German hlanca (“loin”), Middle High German lanke (“hip joint”) (German lenken (“to bend, turn, lead”)), Old English hlanc (“loose, slender, flaccid, lank”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfjan.ko/
• Rhymes: -anko
• Hyphenation: fiàn‧co

Noun

fianco m (plural fianchi)

1. flank, haunch (part of the body)
   • 1984, Falco (lyrics and music), “Junge Roemer” (overall work in German):

     Un ballo nuovo porta ritmo nei fianchi della città

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. side

   al mio fianco ― by my side

   di fianco ― laterally

3. (poetic, metonymically) the whole body
   • 1336–1374, Francesco Petrarca, “XVI — Movesi il vecchierel canuto et biancho”, in Il Canzoniere, line 5; republished as Daniele Ponchiroli, editor, Turin: publ. Giulio Einaudi, 1964:

     […] indi trahendo poi l’antiquo fianco […]

     Then dragging the old body from there […]

Derived terms

• fianchetto
• sfiancare

Anagrams

• cafoni, cofani, confai, fonica, infoca