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panno

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word panno

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1211 Florentine bankers' account book More words from the 13th century
Inherited from
Latin pannus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin pannus
Italian panno
Spanish paño
From the same root
Latin pannōsus ← pannus

Pronunciation

Forms

panno m (plural panni)[1] An old variant is pano.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pannus (“piece of cloth, rag”).[3][4][5][1] The same word is French pan, Occitan pan, Catalan pany, Spanish paño and Portuguese pano;[4][6][7] DEI describes it as a word of Italy and the western Romance area.[4][6][7] The Latin word passed into Welsh pan as well.[6][7] Latin diminutives gave pannello and pannicolo.[3]

The origin of the Latin noun is uncertain.[3][2] Words compared with it are Ancient Greek πῆνος (pênos, “woven cloth”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌽𐌰 (fana, “cloth”) and Old High German fano (“cloth, banner”).[8][1] Nocentini links the Germanic words to the root of pendere, “to hang”.[4] De Vaan argues that the variation between short and long ⟨a⟩ and between ⟨n⟩ and ⟨nn⟩ cannot come from one Proto-Indo-European form, so these may be loanwords from an unknown source;[8][1] Kroonen instead reconstructs a root Proto-Indo-European *peh₂n- (“fabric”).[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a Florentine bankers' account book of 1211, meaning cloth, especially heavy carded woollen cloth.[3][4][5] The same book has panno linio, linen cloth.[3]

Semantic evolution

The plural panni “clothes” is found by 1233–1243, in the records of a Sienese family, and Dante uses it.[3][7] A piece of cloth for some use is recorded in the Calimala guild statutes of 1332–1341.[3] By transfer the word named thin skins and films: the film on liquids that cool or stand in the air (14th century), the skin of the chestnut, a film over the eye, and the membrane of the egg.[3][7][5] In the northern dialects the plural also means freckles.[7]

As a general word for any fabric panno has given way to stoffa, and it now means mainly a felted woollen cloth, as on a billiard table, or a cloth for cleaning.[9][5] Many idioms use the plural for one's situation: mettersi nei panni di qualcuno, non stare più nei propri panni.[10][11]

Timeline

  • 1211 – Panno and panno linio in a Florentine bankers' account book.[3]
  • 1233–1243 – The plural panni “clothes” in Sienese family records.[3]
  • 1309 – Giordano da Pisa uses panniculo “membrane”.[3]
  • 1332–1341 – The Calimala statutes use the word for a piece of cloth.[3]
  • 1300s – Panno names the film on a liquid.[3]
  • 1557 – Panneggiare “to drape” in L. Dolce.[3]
  • 1975 – Pannolenci is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A heavy, warm woollen cloth, fulled and pressed, used especially for coats: una giacca di panno blu.[5][12][9]
  2. (dated) Any fabric, cloth.[5][11]
  3. A piece of cloth for cleaning or dusting: Asciuga il tavolo con un panno umido.[5][12]
  4. (usually plural) clothes, garments and linen: piegare i panni asciutti.[5][1]
  5. A film that forms on the surface of a liquid; a film of vapour on a surface.[5][12]
  6. The skin of the chestnut under the shell; the membrane between the egg white and the shell.[5]
  7. (fishing) A small square net worked by hand in streams.[5][12]

Word family

  • appannare
  • pannolino
  • pannolano
  • pannello
  • panneggiare
  • panneggio
  • panneggiamento
  • pannicello
  • pannuccia
  • rimpannucciare
  • soppanno
  • impannare
  • impannata
  • pannolenci

Usage notes

The proverb i panni sporchi si lavano in famiglia means that delicate matters are best settled privately.[10][11] Tagliare i panni addosso a qualcuno is to speak ill of someone.[10][13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  6. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  7. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2749
  8. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  9. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
  10. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  11. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  12. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Panno.” Etymologically, 10 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/panno. Accessed 10 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·