minestra

Forms

minestra f (plural minestre, diminutive minestrìna, augmentative minestróne, pejorative minestráccia or minestrùccia)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian minestrare, as a deverbal noun; the verb's many senses included “to ladle out the soup”, recorded in the Florentine canzone of Castra (1260–1280).^[2][3][4][1] Minestrare is from Latin ministrō (“to serve, attend”), which is minister (“servant”).^[2][3][5] The Latin verb was already used of serving food at table, as in Horace's “Coena ministratur pueris tribus” (dinner is served by three boys), and this explains the passage to the modern sense.^[2][6] Tommaseo explained it as the dish that is served first.^[7]

Old Milanese has Lombard menestra (“dish, food”), and the Engadine form Romansh manaistra means a dog's leash.^[8] Spanish menestra was borrowed from Italian.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI dates the first record to about 1225, in Garzo, in the sense of a dish of rice or pasta in broth, or boiled and dressed;^[2][3] Nocentini gives 1282.^[2][3] Old forms include manèstra, menèsta and menèstra.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense “business, affair” is recorded before 1749 in Saccenti, and perhaps already in Berni before 1535.^[2] Diminutive and augmentative forms followed: minestruccia in Jacopone in the 13th century, minestrina before 1494 in Poliziano, and minestrone in 1635 in Buommattei, which Nievo used before 1861 for the vegetable soup with rice or pasta, and which became a “hotchpotch” in 1891.^[2][6]

In northern and central Italy the word covers pasta in broth or drained, while in the south it is soup in broth and, in the dialects, also cooked greens.^[10] Today it is also the first course of a meal and, figuratively, one's daily bread (lavorare per la minestra) or a tedious, unchanging situation (la solita minestra).^[4][11][12] The word went into German as menestern in 1472/73, into French as menestre in 1553 and into English as menestra in 1663.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1225 – Garzo uses minestra.^[2]
• 1260–1280 – The canzone of Castra uses minestrare “to ladle out the soup”.^[2][14]
• 1472/73 – German menestern is recorded.^[13]
• Before 1494 – Poliziano uses minestrina.^[2]
• 1553 – French menestre is recorded.^[13]
• 1635 – Minestrone appears in Buommattei.^[2]
• 1663 – English menestra is recorded.^[13]
• Before 1749 – Saccenti uses minestra for an affair or business.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. soup: a dish of pasta, rice, pulses or vegetables cooked in broth or water, usually served with its liquid: una minestra di ceci.^[4][11][12]
2. (by extension) The first course of a meal: Stasera salto la minestra.^[4][15][12]
3. (figurative) One's daily food or living: lavorare per la minestra.^[11][15][12]
4. (figurative) A matter or affair, especially a dull and repetitive one: è sempre la solita minestra.^[4][16][12]

Word family

• minestrina
• minestrone
• minestraio
• minestroso

Related words

• minestrare
• ministrare
• ministro

Usage notes

Set phrases include minestra riscaldata, something past that one tries in vain to revive, minestra maritata, a Neapolitan dish of meats and greens, and perdere la minestra “to lose one's job”.^[4][16][17] The proverb o mangi la minestra o salti la finestra “either eat the soup or jump out of the window” means accepting something unwelcome for want of a choice.^[1][18]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
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. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 665
7. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2464
11. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b c d Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
14. ^ Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
15. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
17. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
18. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana