Etymologically
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panino

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Pronunciation

Forms

panino m (plural panini)[1]

Etymology

It is a diminutive from Italian pane (“bread”) + -ino.[2][3][4][1] The English word panini is borrowed from its plural.[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first example is from Raffaello Lambruschini in 1837, a panino d'inchiostro della China, a small cake of Chinese ink.[2][6] In 1839–1841 Molossi complained that dictionaries lacked the word, used for the small blessed loaves of the feasts of Saint Roch and Saint Nicholas, and Tommaseo has panino “small loaf” in 1841.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Carena (1846) describes the panino as a small roll of very white flour with a glossy crust, not eaten at ordinary meals but dipped in coffee or chocolate.[2][7] The filled roll, panino imbottito or ripieno, became the main sense: Carducci ate a panin gravido, the Tuscan “pregnant roll”, at Grosseto.[7][8] Tommaseo–Bellini also records panino for a small block of chocolate, butter or soap.[9]

In television journalism a panino is a political report in which the opposition's view is placed between two statements from the government side.[10][4][7] English took the word as panino in 1955 and uses the plural panini as a singular, with a new plural paninis.[11][5]

Timeline

  • 1837 – Lambruschini writes of a panino of Chinese ink.[2]
  • 1841 – Tommaseo records panino “small loaf”.[2][3]
  • 1846 – Carena describes the white breakfast roll.[2]
  • 1955 – The English word panino is first recorded.[11]
  • c. 1980 – Panini appear on US restaurant menus.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A bread roll, a small loaf, usually round or oval: un panino integrale.[8][10][12]
  2. A roll cut open and filled, a sandwich: Per il viaggio ci siamo portati due panini col formaggio.[8][10][4]
  3. (journalism) A political news report in which the opposition's statement is placed between two from the government and its majority.[10][4][6]
  4. (invariable, journalism) In giornale panino, a newspaper sold together with another paper or a magazine.[10][6]

Word family

  • paninaro
  • paninoteca
  • panineria

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ 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. 12, 484
  8. ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  12. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana