ciambella

Forms

ciambella f (plural ciambelle)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.^[2][3][4] The word seems to have spread from the Abruzzo.^[5][6][3] DELI, following Alessio, takes it as inherited from Latin cymbula (“little boat”), from the shape;^[5][7] Alessio cited other cakes named after boats.^[5][7] The Latin word is a diminutive of cymba (“boat”), which is from Ancient Greek κύμβη (kúmbē, “cup; boat”).^[7][5][1]

Nocentini prefers Vidossi's proposal, which Devoto–Oli also gives: a reconstructed Vulgar Latin *cymbella (“ring-shaped little bell”), a diminutive of cymbalum (“cymbal”) (Italian cembalo).^[7][8] He finds Alessio's objection to the change of gender unnecessary, since a feminine diminutive of the cymbal word is shown by Tuscan ciampanella, in a phrase meaning “to blunder” that goes back to the cymbals of Psalm 150.^[7] Devoto saw a blend of a Vulgar Latin form of the boat word with camella (“bowl”).^[9] Older proposals from Latin sāvillum (“a sweet dish”) (Caix) or Greek words for “tile” are rejected or doubted by Körting and Meyer-Lübke.^[10][11] Wiktionary compares Sicilian giammeḍḍa.^[1] The ring biscuit French gimblette appears to be borrowed from the Italian word according to Körting, but Meyer-Lübke derives it from southern French.^[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Niccolò Machiavelli in 1501, for a sweet pastry of flour, eggs and sugar in the shape of a ring.^[5][2][3] In 16th-century texts it is sold in the street: Speroni compares two learned monks to the sellers who cry their ciambelle.^[12][13]

Semantic evolution

Bakers made pane a ciambella, a round loaf with a hole in the middle, and the proverb non tutte le ciambelle riescono col buco says that not everything comes out as planned.^[13][3][4] Galileo used ciambella in geometry for the ring left when a smaller circle is taken from a concentric larger one.^[13]

The name passed to other ring-shaped things: a teething ring for babies (1846), a cushion against bedsores, a carrying pad for loads on the head, and the life ring, ciambella di salvataggio (1927, Panzini).^[5][2][4] In modern technical language it is the torus in mathematics, the vacuum chamber of a synchrotron, and a cadenced trot of dressage.^[2][8][4] The verb acciambellare “to curl into a ring” is recorded from 1855.^[7]

Timeline

• 1501 – Machiavelli uses ciambella.^[5][2]
• 1846 – Carena records the teething ring.^[5]
• 1855 – Acciambellare is recorded.^[7]
• 1927 – Panzini records ciambella di salvataggio.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ring-shaped cake with a hole in the middle, baked or fried, made of flour, eggs and sugar; a doughnut.^[2][8][6][1]
2. A savoury food of the same shape: ciambella di pane, ciambella di riso.^[2][8]
3. A mould for such cakes.^[2]
4. Any ring-shaped object: a lifebuoy (ciambella di salvataggio), an inflatable cushion against bedsores, a pad for carrying loads on the head, a teething ring.^{[2][8][3][4][1]}
5. (mathematics) A torus.^[2][8][3][1]
6. (physics) The ring-shaped vacuum chamber of a synchrotron or betatron.^[2][4]
7. (equitation) A cadenced trot on the spot, with the horse's neck arched back.^[2][8][4]

Word family

• acciambellare
• ciambellaio
• ciambellone
• ciambellina

Related words

• Latin cymbula

Usage notes

Non tutte le ciambelle riescono col buco is a common proverb for something that has not turned out perfectly.^[3][4][14] The diminutives are ciambellina, the usual name for the fried kind, and ciambelletta; the augmentative ciambellone is a ring cake.^[4][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
11. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
13. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli