Campi Flegrei doesn't mean "burning fields" in Italian, as the author suggests. Campi is literally "fields". We have that a lot for city/town/village names (e.

Campi Flegrei doesn't mean "burning fields" in Italian, as the author suggests. Campi is literally "fields". We have that a lot for city/town/village names (e.g. Campi Bisenzio, close to Florence). When used for the name of a place, I would just suggest maybe 'meadows' as a better translation. Flegreo (pl. -i), on the other hand, exists as an adjective solely to describe someone or something "from the area West of Neaples known as Campi Flegrei". The etymology is of course related to the volcanic activity and has to do with burning. φλέγω (phlego) in Ancient Greek meant "to burn". In Latin the verb was Flagro. In Italian we still have these words in use: - "deflagrazione" (it's similar to the English deflagration, but with a broader meaning of "explosion"; it's normally used as a synonym) - "flagrante". Literally "burning", but the common meaning is "evident" or "in the act", as in "colto in flagrante", "caught in the act", "caught red-handed". The greek root, turned to "flog-", is still to be found in some specific terms, especially in medical literature. Flogistico, for example. You have that in English, and it's even more recognizable, thanks to the "ph": phlogistic. It means inflammatory, causing a burning sensation.