Italian

Una saetta. – A thunderbolt.

Noun

saetta f ‎(plural saette)

1. (archaic, literary) arrow
   • 1374, Francesco Petrarca, “I dolci colli ov'io lasciai me stesso”, Il Canzoniere, Andrea Bettini (1858), p. 240, vv. 9-11:

     E qual cervo ferito di saetta, ¶ col ferro avvelenato dentro al fianco ¶ fugge, e più duolsi quanto più s'affretta; [...]

     And like a deer struck by an arrow, ¶ with the poisoned tip in its side, ¶ I run, more painfully the faster I flee; [...]

   • 1472, Dante Alighieri, La divina commedia: Inferno, Le Monnier (1994), Canto VIII, p. 120, vv. 13-15:

     Corda non pinse mai da sé saetta ¶ che sì corresse via per l'aere snella

     Cord never shot an arrow from itself ¶ that sped away athwart the air so swift

   • 1516, Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando furioso, Gabriel Giolito (1551), Canto XXX, p.139:

     In una ſpiaggia, lungi da le mura, ¶ quanto ſarian duo tratti di ſaetta.

     To a shore, distant from the walls ¶ the equivalent of two arrow shots.

   1. (archaic, figuratively, poetic) sunbeam, ray or shaft (of sunlight)
      • 1472, Dante Alighieri, La divina commedia: Purgatorio, Bompiani (2001), Canto II, p. 26, vv. 55-57:

        Da tutte parti saettava il giorno ¶ lo sol, ch'avea con le saette conte ¶ di mezzo 'l ciel cacciato Capricorno, [...]

        On every side was darting forth the day ¶ the sun, who had with his resplendent shafts ¶ from the mid-heaven chased forth the Capricorn, [...]

2. (archaic, by extension) hand (of a clock)
3. thunderbolt, lightning
   1. (by extension) A very quick or restless person.
   2. (archaic, figuratively) nothing, anything
      • 1830, Antonio Guadagnoli, “Epistola” (Poesie inedite, Francesco Pagnoni (1861), p. 94), vv. 1-3:

        In questa Pisa santa e benedetta, ¶ dottori, galeotti e cavalieri, ¶ fuor di lor non si trova una saetta!

        In this Pisa, bless'd and holy, ¶ doctors, convicts and knights; ¶ apart from them nothing to be found!

4. (botany) The plant Sagittaria sagittifolia.
5. (astronomy) The Sagitta constellation.

Synonyms

• (1): freccia (common)
• (2): lancetta (common)
• (3): folgore; fulmine (common)

Etymology 2

Verb

saetta

1. third-person singular present indicative of saettare
2. second-person singular imperative of saettare

Anagrams

• a testa, attesa, esatta, tesata