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stingere

English translation: emanate a faint scent of

19:03 Sep 23, 2019
Italian to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
Italian term or phrase: stingere
"le loro vesti stingevano odore di trigonella" ecc.

This is part of the description of the old women on the bus at the beginning of Leonardo Sciascia's "The Day of the Owl." It seems pretty clear from the context that these women's clothing is "giving off" this odour, but I can't find any dictionary that gives something like "to give off/release" as a definition of "stingere". Am I missing something? Or can anyone find a relevant definition for "stingere" that isn't the one I'm imagining? Is this a peculiar, Sicilian use of the word?

Any help much appreciated!
Rose Sneyd, DipTrans, PhD
English translation:emanate a faint scent of
Explanation:
This is the meaning.
Selected response from:

EleoE
Local time: 04:10
Grading comment
Like Lara, I'm unsure about "scent", but "emanate" seems like a useful, strong verb
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4emanate a faint scent of
EleoE
4gave off a // gave off an intense
Lara Barnett
4seeped/wafted/trailed from
Kimberly Ann Franch


Discussion entries: 6





  

Answers


11 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
emanate a faint scent of


Explanation:
This is the meaning.

EleoE
Local time: 04:10
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ItalianItalian, Native in Serbo-CroatSerbo-Croat
PRO pts in category: 16
Grading comment
Like Lara, I'm unsure about "scent", but "emanate" seems like a useful, strong verb

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Lara Barnett: But would you really use "scent" for a spice? And we would probably say the "smell emanated", "emanated a scent" risks sounding a bit poetic, like a perfume ad.// Scent & aroma have very positive/pleasant connotations, I don't think this has.
3 hrs
  -> Scent as "aroma", yes. However, reading what follows "trigonella" I would rather say odour.
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
gave off a // gave off an intense


Explanation:
My idea would be to use either smell or odour, preferably with "intense", which emphasises the verb, and say something like:

"Her clothes gave off an intense fenugreek odour " (or whatever)

"Her clothes gave off an (intense) smell of fenugreek."

Example sentence(s):
  • "These minty green nugs GIVE OFF AN INTENSE SMELL OF flower and fruit, which make it an incredibly tempting choice to hit from the first smell."
  • "...for the blossoms GIVE OFF AN INTENSE ODOUR of decay to draw carrion flies to pollinate it."

    https://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/2722/the-temple-of-flora
    https://weedrepublic.com/blogs/strains/green-poison-strain-review-everything-you-need-to-know-more
Lara Barnett
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:10
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 36
1 corroborated select project
in this pair and field What is ProZ.com Project History(SM)?
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13 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
seeped/wafted/trailed from


Explanation:
Another suggestion: I would flip the sentence structure a bit so that the smell is the subject, e.s.

"An odor of fenugreek seeped from their clothes..."
"The smell of fenugreek wafted from their clothes..."

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Note added at 16 hrs (2019-09-24 11:11:23 GMT)
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I missed the "ecc" part; checking the entire phrase, my first impulse was towards "A miasma of X,Y, Z seeped..." but that might incorrectly imply that the individual scents are rather mixed instead of the idea of one scent per woman, vaguely mixed just due to proximity. Also might not fit the tone, but I hope it's food for thought :)

Kimberly Ann Franch
Italy
Local time: 13:10
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Notes to answerer
Asker: Definitely food for thought, thanks Kimberly! I think it might be fruitful to play around with the sentence structure, despite your well justified reservations. Thank you!

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