Etymology

solfatara

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Today it means: An area of volcanic activity that gives off sulfurous steam. Full definition →

First used 18th c.Italian solfatara
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The story

  1. Italian · derived fromzolfo“sulphur”
  2. Italian · derived fromsolfatara“a place where to find sulphates”
  3. English todaysolfatara

From Italian solfatara (“a place where to find sulphates”), from solfato (“sulphate”) + -ara (“suffix that forms place nouns”). More at Italian zolfo (“sulphur”). Itself the name of Solfatara, a volcano near Naples. Compare Sicilian surfatara.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 18th c. An area of volcanic activity that gives off sulfurous steam.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.