cumino

Forms

cumino m (plural cumini)^[1] The variants comino and cimino are also used.^[2][3][4] Old Italian forms include chomino, chimino and cuminu.^[5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cumīnum, also spelled cymīnum, a learned word.^[6][7][8][9] The Latin is from Ancient Greek κύμινον (kúminon),^{[6][7][10][1]} which is a Semitic loan;^[7][1] Nocentini compares the Phoenician and Hebrew names of the plant.^[7][1] Late Latin also had the forms Late Latin cominum and ciminum, behind the Italian variants.^[4][2][11]

Nocentini lists Catalan comí, Spanish comino and Portuguese cominho beside it; French cumin is a learned loan from Latin, recorded in 1393.^[7][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Tuscan medical recipes of the 13th century.^[5] Bono Giamboni, before 1292, writes comino: if pigeons are given cumin to peck and their wings are anointed with balm, they will lead many other pigeons to their dovecote.^[6][12]

Semantic evolution

For centuries the usual form was comino: the Italian Crescenzi says the plant wants rich soil and warm air and is sown in March, and Landino's Pliny describes a wild kind.^[12] The learned cumino is recorded in Lodovico Domenichi's translation of Pliny, before 1564.^[6][12] Redi lists it among the warming seeds beside fennel and anise.^[13]

In modern use the seed flavours food and the liqueur kümmel and is used in medicine,^[8][14] and chemists distil its essential oil.^[13][8] Cumino dei prati or cumino tedesco is caraway.^[14][4] The Italian word was borrowed into Serbo-Croatian and into Slovene kumin.^[1]

Timeline

• 13th century – Tuscan medical recipes have the word.^[5]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni writes comino.^[6]
• 1393 – French cumin is recorded.^[9]
• Before 1564 – Lodovico Domenichi writes cumino.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. cumin, the aromatic seed used in cooking, in liqueurs and in medicine.^[8][14]
2. The plant that bears it (Cuminum cyminum), an annual of the Apiaceae with white or pink flowers.^[8][2][14]
3. The essential oil of the seed.^[8][13]
4. cumino dei prati or cumino tedesco: caraway (Carum carvi).^[2][14][4]
5. cumino nero: cominella.^[2][14]

Word family

• cominella

Related words

• Latin cuminum
• Ancient Greek κύμινον (kúminon)
• French cumin

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
3. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b c d 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 Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
6. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1189
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 1046
13. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli