Zizzania, commonly referred to as darnel, poison darnel, darnel ryegrass, or cockle in English, is an herbaceous weed similar to wheat found in cultivated fields. It adversely affects the plants in the surrounding soil, causing damage to agricultural crops. Thus, the expression seminare zizzania literally translates to “sowing darnel.”
seminare zizzania
to sow discord
This expression refers to the act of subtly and maliciously fostering or creating disagreement and bad feelings between people. In English, we might use any of the following expressions:
- to sow discord
- to rock the boat
- to drive a wedge
Sometimes you might see the word seminare replaced with mettere (to put) or spargere (to spread).
Occhio! È venuto qui solo per seminare zizzania in famiglia.
Careful! He came here just to drive a wedge between family members.
According to Sapere Virgilio, the usage of zizzania in a malicious sense can be traced back to the Gospel according to Matthew (chapter 13, verses 24 to 30) in which the plant is used as a metaphor for the Devil (il Maligno).
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
