The 29-year-old has penned a two-and-a-half-year deal from the Serie A outfit where he has scored four goals in nine starts this season.
Zarate returns to the Premier League following previous spells with West Ham, QPR and Birmingham.
He will wear squad number 20 for Watford.
A club statement: “The Hornets are delighted to announce the permanent signing of Argentine forward Mauro Zarate.
“Comfortable playing as either an attacking midfielder or a striker, Zarate joins Watford in a two-and-a-half-year deal from Fiorentina, where he scored seven goals in eight starts for the Serie A outfit.
“Having started out in Argentina with Velez Sarsfield, Zarate spent a brief period with Qatari side Al-Sadd before making a loan switch to Birmingham in 2008, finding the net four times in 14 outings for the Blues.
A five-year stint with Lazio followed and Zárate played a key role in their 2009 Coppa Italia Final victory over Sampdoria, scoring four minutes into a 1-1 draw before converting during a successful penalty shoot-out.
“After a year spent on loan at Inter Milan, and a return to first club Velez Sarsfield during the 2013/14 season, Zárate joined West Ham in 2014 and went on to play 29 times for the Hammers, scoring seven goals.
“The former Argentina Under-20 international also played four games on loan at QPR in the early part of 2015, and secured a switch from West Ham to Fiorentina in January 2016.”
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