guaio

Italian

Etymology

Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *wai (“expression of grief”)[1]. Alternatively from Ancient Greek οὐαί (ouaí), from the verse in Revelation 8:13. Compare English woe, German Weh, Latin vae.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈɡwa.jo/
  • Rhymes: -ajo
  • Hyphenation: guà‧io

Noun

guaio m (plural guai)

  1. (archaic or literary, usually in the plural) lament, lamentation, cry
    • early 14th century, Dante, “Canto III”, in Inferno, lines 22–24:
      Quivi sospiri, pianti e alti guai
      risonavan per l'aere sanza stelle,
      per ch'io al cominciar ne lagrimai.
      Here sighs, cries, and loud laments resounded through the starless air, so that at their beginning I teared up
    • 1353, Giovanni Boccaccio, “Giornata quinta, Novella Ⅷ. [Fifth day, Novel 8]”, in Decamerone [Decameron]‎, Tommaso Hedlin, published 1527, page 153:
      subitamente gli parve udire un grandissimo pianto, et guai altissimi messi da una donna
      He immediately thought he heard intense crying, and very loud laments emitted by a woman
    • 1835, Giacomo Leopardi, “Ⅱ. Sopra il monumento di Dante”, in Canti‎, Bari: Einaudi, published 1917, lines 84–85, page 10:
      […] in sempiterni guai
      pianga tua stirpe a tutto il mondo oscura
      May your lineage, unknown to the whole world, cry in eternal laments
  2. (usually in the plural) hardship, misfortune
  3. (by extension) trouble, difficulty, mess, pickle, fix, woe, jam
    Io non ho guai. ― I do not have problems.
    Siamo nei guai. ― We're in trouble.

Synonyms

Derived terms

References
  1. guaio in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
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