Bor·gia

(bôr′jə, -zhə)

Italian family, influential from the 14th to the 16th century, that included the son and daughter of Pope Alexander VI. Cesare (1475?-1507), a religious, military, and political leader, was the model for Machiavelli's The Prince.Lucrezia (1489-1519), the Duchess of Ferrara, was a patron of learning and the arts.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Borgia

(Italian ˈbordʒa)

1. (Biography) Cesare (ˈtʃezare), son of Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI). 1475–1507, Italian cardinal, politician, and military leader; model for Machiavelli's The Prince

2. (Biography) his sister, Lucrezia (luˈkrɛttsja), daughter of Rodrigo Borgia. 1480–1519, Italian noblewoman. After her third marriage (1501), to the Duke of Ferrara, she became a patron of the arts and science

3. (Biography) Rodrigo (rodˈriɡo). See Alexander VI

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Bor•gia

(ˈbɔr dʒə, -ʒə)

n.

1. Cesare, 1476?–1507, Italian cardinal, military leader, and politician.

2. Lucrezia (Duchess of Ferrara), 1480–1519, sister of Cesare Borgia: patron of the arts.

3. their father, Rodrigo, Alexander VI.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	Borgia - Italian pope whose nepotism put the Borgia family in power in Italy (1378-1458) Alfonso Borgia, Calixtus III
	2.	Borgia - Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts (1480-1519) Duchess of Ferrara, Lucrezia Borgia
	3.	Borgia - Italian cardinal and military leader; model for Machiavelli's prince (1475-1507) Cesare Borgia
	4.	Borgia - Pope and father of Cesare Borgia and Lucrezia Borgia (1431-1503) Alexander VI, Pope Alexander VI, Rodrigo Borgia

Translations

Borgia

[ˈbɔːdʒjə] N → Borja m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

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References in classic literature

"Gentlemen," he cried, "let me introduce you to the famous black pearl of the Borgias."

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And on these matters I spoke at Nantes with Rouen, when Valentino, as Cesare Borgia, the son of Pope Alexander, was usually called, occupied the Romagna, and on Cardinal Rouen observing to me that the Italians did not understand war, I replied to him that the French did not understand statecraft, meaning that otherwise they would not have allowed the Church to reach such greatness.

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"Pretty soon after I looked at him through that knot-hole, w'en you had put something in his w'isky, you derned Borgia!"

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The performance announced was Lucrezia Borgia, and it was to take place that evening.

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"My information dates from the day on which I was arrested," returned the Abbe Faria; "and as the emperor had created the kingdom of Rome for his infant son, I presume that he has realized the dream of Machiavelli and Caesar Borgia, which was to make Italy a united kingdom."

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Caroline shook her loose ringlets of abundant but somewhat coarse hair over her rolling black eyes; parting her lips, as full as those of a hot-blooded Maroon, she showed her well-set teeth sparkling between them, and treated me at the same time to a smile "de sa facon." Beautiful as Pauline Borghese, she looked at the moment scarcely purer than Lucrece de Borgia. Caroline was of noble family.

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This morning I had been looking at Giorgione's picture of the cruel-eyed woman, said to be a likeness of Lucrezia Borgia. I had stood long alone before it, fascinated by the terrible reality of that cunning, relentless face, till I felt a strange poisoned sensation, as if I had long been inhaling a fatal odour, and was just beginning to be conscious of its effects.

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We saw also an autograph letter of Lucrezia Borgia, a lady for whom I have always entertained the highest respect, on account of her rare histrionic capabilities, her opulence in solid gold goblets made of gilded wood, her high distinction as an operatic screamer, and the facility with which she could order a sextuple funeral and get the corpses ready for it.

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* This comet against which Pope Calixtus, uncle of Borgia, ordered public prayers, is the same which reappeared in 1835.

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More men have been stabbed with Lucrezia Borgia daggers and dropped into the Thames for laughing at Head Centres and Triangles than for betraying secrets; for this is human nature.

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Not by the horrible things imputed both ways; I know (though it's not modern to say so) that human nature in the highest places is still capable of being Cenci or Borgia. No--, what puzzled me was the sincerity of both parties.

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What befell Asdrubal or Caesar Borgia is as much an illustration of the mind's powers and depravations as what has befallen us.

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