confettare

Forms

confettare (first-person singular present confètto, first-person singular past historic confettài, past participle confettàto, auxiliary avére)^[1] Old forms include confectare and Sicilian cunfectari.^[2]

Etymology

For DELI, GRADIT, Zingarelli, Sabatini–Coletti, Treccani and Wiktionary it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *cōnfectāre, a frequentative of Latin cōnficiō (“to make, prepare, finish”) formed on its past participle cōnfectus.^{[3][4][5][6][7][1]} The Latin verb is faciō (“to make, do”) with the prefix con-.^[6][8][1]

The LEI reconstructs the Latin verb from Spanish cohechar (“to prepare the soil for sowing”) and Portuguese confeitar, which is recorded from 1188–1230; it explains the Italian verb in the sense “prepare, make” of the old texts by the same base.^[9][10] Others see the Italian verb as formed from confetto “sugared almond”: the TLIO and Devoto–Oli say so, DEI adds that it followed French confire, and the LEI files the sense “to feast” under the noun.^{[2][11][12][13]} Grisons confettar and Catalan confitar were formed within those languages.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Zucchero's Santà (Florence, 1310), where it means to prepare medicinal mixtures by cooking aromatic substances in sugar or honey.^[2][14]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the verb covered all kinds of preparation: candying fruit in syrup, steeping food in spices or salt, making wines and drinks, and anointing a body for burial.^[2] The Tuscan Crescenzi has barley flour prepared with sugar, and Boccaccio's Decameron has two pills coated in fresh aloes.^[15][16] Boccaccio and other Florentine writers also used it without an object for feasting on sweets and wine.^[2][13]

From the 16th century it took figurative senses: to deceive (Caro, Bandello), to flatter (Davanzati), and to sweeten a speech or a poem with sugary words.^[9][7] The GDLI notes that today only the sense “coat with sugar” is alive, in confectionery and in pharmacy for coating pills.^[15][4]

Timeline

• 1310 – Zucchero's Santà uses it for preparing medicines with sugar.^[2][14]
• 1353 – Boccaccio uses it in the sense “to candy”.^[3]
• About 1370 – A Venetian legend uses it for anointing a dead body.^[9]
• About 1545 – Caro uses it in the sense “to deceive”.^[9]
• Before 1606 – Davanzati uses it in the sense “to flatter”.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To sugarcoat, cover with a layer of sugar; to candy: confettare le nocciole.^{[4][11][5][1]}
2. (pharmacy) To coat pills with a hard, sugary layer.^[4][11][5]
3. (figurative, uncommon) To flatter or cajole someone; to make a speech or text sweet and cloying.^{[4][11][7][1]}
4. (archaic) To prepare food or drink.^[17][5][1]
5. (archaic, intransitive) To eat sweets; to feast.^[4][17][1]

Word family

• confettatura
• confettatrice

Related words

• confetteria
• confettiera
• confettiere
• confetto
• confettura
• confezione
• Latin cōnficiō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, 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 Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 16, 1302
10. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
11. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1056
13. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 16, 1313
14. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
16. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
17. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana