affogare

From Late Vulgar Latin *affōcāre, alteration of Late Latin offōcāre, present active infinitive of offōcō (“I strangle, choke”), derived from Latin faucēs (“throat”). Cognate with Portuguese afogar and Spanish ahogar.

• IPA^(key): /af.foˈɡa.re/, [äffo̞ˈɡäːr̺e̞]
• Rhymes: -are
• Hyphenation: af‧fo‧gà‧re

affogare

1. (transitive)
   1. to drown (to kill by suffocating in a liquid)

      Lo affogarono nel lago. ― They drowned him in the lake.

   2. (literary) to extinguish, to put out
      • c. 1900, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Francesca da Rimini, Act II, second scene:

        […] solo con la sabbia si affoga e con l’aceto si stempera

        Only with sand it [Greek fire] is extinguished, and with vinegar it is diluted

   3. (literary, figuratively) to oppress, to overbear, to overwhelm
      • 1835, Giacomo Leopardi, “III. Ad Angelo Mai [To Angelo Mai]”, in Canti‎, Bari: Einaudi, published 1917, lines 70–72, page 17:

        E pur men grava e morde ¶ il mal che n’addolora ¶ del tedio che n’affoga.

        And yet the paining harm weighs and bites less than the oppressing boredom.

   4. (cooking) to smother

      affogato nella crema ― smothered in cream

2. (intransitive)
   1. to drown (to die by suffocating in a liquid)

      Quasi affogò nel fiume. ― He almost drowned in the river.

   2. (figuratively) to be oppressed or overwhelmed

• affogamento

• affogato