indarno

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indarno (literary)

1. in vain
2. fruitlessly
3. unnecessarily
4. needlessly

indarno (feminine indarna, masculine plural indarni, feminine plural indarne) (literary)

1. vain, useless

   Synonyms: vano, inutile

   • 1336–1374, Francesco Petrarca, “CXXVIII — Italia mia, benché ’l parlar sia indarno”, in Il Canzoniere, lines 1–3; republished as Daniele Ponchiroli, editor, Turin: publ. Giulio Einaudi, 1964:

     Italia mia, benché ’l parlar sia indarno / a le piaghe mortali / che nel bel corpo tuo sì spesse veggio […]

     My dear Italy, although speaking is useless to [cure] the mortal wounds that in your beautiful body I see so many […]

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