petaloso

Italian

Etymology

Coined by an eight-year-old schoolboy in a written assignment in February 2016,[1] from petalo (“petal”) +‎ -oso (“-y, -ful, -some”). It became a topic of public discussion when the boy's teacher asked the Accademia della Crusca for an official opinion on the word's validity. While the word is morphologically well-formed, its lack of widespread use by native speakers prevented its recognition into the official dictionaries of the Crusca.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pe.taˈlo.zo/, (traditional) /pe.taˈlo.so/
  • Rhymes: -ozo, (traditional) -oso
  • Hyphenation: pe‧ta‧ló‧so

Adjective

petaloso (feminine petalosa, masculine plural petalosi, feminine plural petalose) (neologism, colloquial, rare)

  1. petalous, petalsome (full of petals)

Usage notes

  • Usage of the term is chiefly colloquial, in reference to the event of the coinage itself which became publicly very known.

References

  1. ^ “How an eight-year-old boy invented a new word”, in BBC News‎[1], 24 February 2016
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