panzana

Forms

panzana f (plural panzane)^[1] The word is Venetian panciana in Venetian dialect, and Rome has panchiana.^[2][3]

Etymology

The origin is unknown according to DELI, GRADIT and Prati.^[4][5][3][1]

Nocentini's proposal is that it is a Romance formation, probably from Vulgar Latin *pactiāre (“to compress, pack tight”), with ⟨nz⟩ in place of ⟨zz⟩ by dissimilation.^[2] Devoto–Oli follows him and takes the Vulgar Latin verb from pactus (“compressed”).^[6] In this view the word first named a popular dish of soaked, pressed and seasoned bread, and came to mean a fib through the senses of food of little worth and of something unreliable.^[2][6]

Devoto saw in it a shortened *panicciana, from paniccia, a soft and insubstantial thing, with a northern hissing ⟨ss⟩ later corrected in Tuscany to ⟨z⟩.^[7][4] DELI calls this a mere hypothesis, and Nocentini finds the passage through a shortened Ligurian form of two Tuscan words unlikely.^[4][2] Nocentini prefers Zamboni's passing suggestion that connects the word with acqua pazza, a thin broth that in the Tuscan dialects is a dish like panzanella.^[2] DELI leaves open whether the word is connected with that dish at all.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded from 1558, in G. B. Pescatore, with the sense “tall story, fib”.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

Before 1565 B. Varchi noted that the two expressions dar panzane (or baggiane) and ficcar carote, both meaning to tell people tall stories, were not only Florentine and Tuscan but Italian, and had been coined not many years before.^[4][3]

The word has kept this one sense, mostly in the plural and in a colloquial register.^[8][9][5] Trentino, Modenese and Neapolitan also have panzana.^[3]

Timeline

• 1558 – First record, in G. B. Pescatore.^[4][5]
• Before 1565 – B. Varchi discusses dar panzane as a recent expression.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A fib, a tall story: an exaggerated, unbelievable claim, usually in the plural: Mi ha raccontato un mucchio di panzane.^{[5][6][10][1]}

Related words

• panzanella
• fandonia
• frottola

Usage notes

Tommaseo and DEI record from Fanfani a separate Tuscan panzana for the splashing and soiling of the hem of one's clothes.^[11][12]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 737
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
9. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
10. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2753