pannello

Forms

pannello m (plural pannelli)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *pannellus, a diminutive of Latin pannus (“cloth”).^[2][3][4][5] Zingarelli and Battisti–Alessio derive it through the diminutive pannulus, and GRADIT treats it as an Italian formation from panno with the suffix -ello.^[6][7][8] Medieval Latin pannillus is recorded in 1006 at Cava dei Tirreni.^[7] The technical senses, a flat panel in a frame or a control board, are a calque of French panneau, which has the same origin.^[3][4][5][7] Devoto–Oli adds the rare sense “panel discussion” as a calque of the English word panel.^[3]

The same Latin diminutive gave Old French pannel, modern panneau, whence Spanish panel and, as Nocentini notes, the English word, as well as Portuguese painel and Old Occitan panel.^[2][9] Meyer-Lübke rejected a derivation of panneau from Latin pānis (“bread”), because the simple pan already meant the panel of a door.^[9] The origin of pannus is unknown; if Ancient Greek πῆνος (pênos, “woven cloth”) and Germanic words for “cloth” are related, de Vaan thinks they are all loanwords from an unknown source.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Tuscan translation of Crescenzi's treatise on agriculture, around 1350, where pannello is a piece of cloth laid on a horse under the saddle: la sella o 'l pannello presses a medicine onto the wound.^[11][12][13]

Semantic evolution

Until the 19th century the word meant a thin, soft cloth, especially of linen, or a piece of such cloth;^{[11][12][13][3]} Tommaseo also records it for the cloth that covers bread while it rises, and Lucca for a kitchen apron.^{[11][12][13][3]} In hand papermaking it was the felt laid between the wet sheets.^[12]

The sense of a decorative frame, often of carved or painted wood, enters Panzini's dictionary in 1908, and Battisti–Alessio treats it as a 20th-century calque of French panneau.^[11][7] It spread with modern building and technology: any infill element held in a frame (1948), and the board on which an apparatus's controls are mounted (1965).^[11] Today pannello covers insulating boards, the walls of prefabricated buildings, the body panels of cars and aircraft, solar panels and radiant heating panels.^[8][3][5]

Timeline

• 1006 – Medieval Latin pannillus is recorded at Cava dei Tirreni.^[7]
• c. 1350 – The translation of Crescenzi uses pannello for a piece of cloth.^[11]
• 1908 – Panzini records the sense “decorative panel”.^[11]
• 1948 – The Enciclopedia italiana uses it for any element held in a frame.^[11]
• 1965 – Garzanti records the sense “control panel” and the ornamental flap on a dress.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A flat, usually framed element used to cover, close, insulate or decorate: a panel of a door, a piece of furniture or a wall: pannelli di quercia.^[8][3][4]
2. (building) A thin board used for thermal or acoustic insulation or protection; a prefabricated wall element of concrete or steel.^[8][3][14]
3. (technology) A board on which the controls and instruments of an apparatus, a control panel are mounted (pannello di controllo).^[8][3][14]
4. (technology) pannello solare: a solar panel;^[3][14][6] pannello radiante: an underfloor or wall heating element.^[3][14][6]
5. (automotive, aviation) A body panel of a car or a section of the outer skin of an aircraft.^[8][3][4]
6. (art) Each separately framed section of a painting or relief.^[3]
7. (sewing) An ornamental flap of fabric sewn on one side to a woman's dress or skirt.^[8][3][6]
8. (rare) A thin, soft cloth; a piece of cloth; the cloth that covers dough while it rises.^[8][6][5]
9. The transparent window of a window envelope.^[8][3][6]
10. (mining) A section of a mine bounded by galleries and shafts.^[8][15]

Word family

• pannellare
• pannellatura
• pannellista

Related words

• panno
• French panneau
• Latin pannus

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: 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 d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2749
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli