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papa

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word papa

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
end of the 12th century, Ritmo laurenziano
Borrowed from
Latin papa
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek πάππας

Pronunciation

Forms

papa m (plural papi)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin papa (“father; bishop; pope”), a learned word of the Church.[2][3][4] The Latin word was taken from Ancient Greek πάπας (pápas, “father”), a title of priests and bishops, itself from πάππας (páppas, “papa, daddy”), a word of children's speech.[2][3][1]

As a title, the word was given from the 3rd century to bishops in general, as a sign of affectionate veneration, often with a possessive, and in 4th-century Egypt even to priests.[2] It is first applied to the bishop of Rome in Tertullian's treatise on modesty and, directly, in an inscription of the deacon Severus (296–304) in the catacomb of San Callisto.[2] From the end of the 4th century it became a specific title of the Roman bishop, although in the 5th century the name of the City was still added; in the 6th it entered the formulary of the chancery of Constantinople, and the official lives of the popes use it in place of the word for bishop from the life of Agapetus I (535–536).[2] Nocentini and Prati date its exclusive use for the bishop of Rome to the 11th century, and Tommaseo records that Gregory VII ordered this at a council in Rome in 1073.[3][5][6]

The same Latin word gave French pape and Spanish papa; it passed into English as pope, while German Papst came through Old French.[3] The Greek word survives in the Eastern Church as the title of a priest, and in Italian as papasso and pope.[7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Ritmo laurenziano, a Tuscan poem of the end of the 12th century, which names the pope as the patron of a cleric.[2][8] GRADIT dates the word to the second half of the 12th century.[4]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the plural could be invariable: li papa is recorded at Pisa in the 14th century, and some dialects, Romanesco among them, still use it.[7] GDLI notes that papa is the word of everyday, pastoral and political language, while official Church and legal usage prefers Romano Pontefice or Sommo Pontefice.[8]

The tarot card showing a pope is recorded in 1561 in Alessandro Citolini, with papessa for the female figure of the same pack;[2] Alessandro Piccolomini had already used papessa in 1545 for a know-all woman.[2] The adjective papale and the noun papato are of the 13th century;[2] papabile, of a cardinal who may be elected pope, is in Annibal Caro before 1566, and of any candidate likely to win from 1922.[2] Papalino meant a supporter of the pope's temporal power in Massimo d'Azeglio (1833) and a soldier of the pope in 1680, and papalina, a skullcap once worn by old men at home, is recorded in 1768.[2]

Several proverbial phrases are built on the word: a ogni morte di papa “very rarely”, andare a Roma e non vedere il papa “to miss the most important thing”, vivere come un papa “to live in comfort” and morto un papa se ne fa un altro “nobody is irreplaceable”.[4][9][10] Papa nero is a popular name of the general of the Jesuits, and in journalism the boss of a criminal organization.[11][9] Turkish borrowed the Italian word as papa.[1]

Timeline

  • Late 12th century – The Ritmo laurenziano uses papa.[2]
  • 13th century – Papale and papato are recorded.[2]
  • 14th century – The invariable plural li papa is recorded at Pisa.[7]
  • 1561 – Alessandro Citolini names the tarot card papa.[2]
  • Before 1566 – Annibal Caro uses papabile.[2]
  • 1768 – Papalina is recorded for a skullcap.[2]
  • 1833 – Massimo d'Azeglio uses papalino for a supporter of the pope's temporal power.[2]
  • 1922 – Papabile is recorded for any candidate likely to be elected.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The pope, the bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church; before a name it takes no article: Il papa ha salutato i pellegrini dalla finestra.[4][11][12]
  2. (figurative, jocular) The leading authority in a group, party or movement.[4][12][9]
  3. In the Eastern Church, and in the Greek-speaking areas of southern Italy, a title of a priest.[4][12][10]
  4. (card games) The Pope, one of the major arcana of the tarot.[4][12][10]
  5. (zoology) The king vulture, also called avvoltoio papa.[4][12]

Word family

  • papale
  • papato
  • papabile
  • papalino
  • papalina
  • papessa
  • papista
  • papismo
  • antipapa
  • papasso
  • pope
  • papà
  • Latin papa

Usage notes

A popular explanation reads the word as an acronym of Latin phrases such as Petri apostoli potestatem accipiens “receiving the power of the apostle Peter”; this is a folk etymology.[1] GDLI records a separate, obsolete papa (plural pape) “potato”, from the name used by the Indians of Peru, in 16th-century accounts of the Americas.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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 e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 737
  6. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  7. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2754
  8. ^ 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, 509
  9. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  10. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  11. ^ a b 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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse

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

“Papa.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/papa. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·