pasticcio

Forms

pasticcio m (plural pasticci, diminutive pasticcétto, augmentative pasticcióne, pejorative pasticciàccio)^[1] Older forms are Old Italian pasticio and Old Italian pastizzo, and an old feminine plural pasticce is also found.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *pastīcius (“made of dough”), a Vulgar Latin adjective used as a noun, formed from Late Latin pasta (“dough, paste”).^{[3][4][5][1][6]} Latin pasta is a late borrowing, from Ancient Greek παστά (pastá), from παστός (pastós, “sprinkled”), from πάσσω (pássō, “to sprinkle”).^[1]

The word belongs to Italian, Occitan, Catalan and French: Old French pastiz (12th century), French pâtis, Old Occitan pastitz, Catalan pastís and Friulian pastits.^[7][4][6][2] The Italian derivative pasticciere comes instead from French pâtissier, formed on the French word.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record DELI and Nocentini give is figurative: in 1525, in the prologue of Pietro Aretino's comedy Cortigiana, pasticcio is a muddled, awkward affair.^[3][4][5] The culinary sense, a dish baked in a pastry case, follows before 1535 in Francesco Berni, who lists sapor, pasticci, lessi, arrosti e torte among the dishes of a French cook.^[3][2][8]

Semantic evolution

The pie of meat, fish or pasta in a crust stayed the literal sense: Firenzuola has a maid “preparing a pasticcio for her masters”, and the proverb chi è uso alle cipolle non vada a' pasticci (whoever is used to onions should not go to pies) contrasts it with poor food.^[2][8] From the 17th century the word is used for a tangle or swindle, and Tommaseo explains far de' pasticci as “to make muddles”, comparing a pasticcio to a mixture of many things together.^[7][8][9] From the 18th century it also means a piece of work done badly or a confused text or speech.^[3][7]

Specialised senses grew out of the idea of a mixture: Algarotti in the 18th century uses it of a painting that imitates another painter's manner, and in a source of 1826 it names a musical work patched together from pieces by different composers, the 18th-century pasticcio opera.^[7][3][10] In architecture it named reliefs made of Roman fragments completed with stucco on the walls of late 16th- and 17th-century palaces.^[5][10] Military language used it in 1817 for an irregular fortification.^[7]

The word spread with these senses: English took pasticcio for music in 1742 and for food in 1772, and French pastiche (painting 1719, literature 1787, music 1798) gave English pastiche in 1878.^[11][12] German has Pasticcio from 1802, Modern Greek παστίτσιο (pastítsio) is a baked pasta dish, and Catalan and Hebrew also borrowed the word.^[11][1]

Timeline

• 1525 – Pietro Aretino uses pasticcio for a muddled affair.^[3][4]
• Before 1535 – Francesco Berni uses it for a dish in a pastry case.^[3]
• 1602 – Pasticcione, a bungler, is recorded.^[4]
• 1613 – Pasticceria is recorded.^[4]
• 1742 – English borrows pasticcio as a musical term.^[11]
• Before 1755 – Scipione Maffei uses the word for a confused piece of writing.^[3]
• 1802 – German Pasticcio is recorded.^[11]
• 1835 – The sense of an opera or piece written by several composers is recorded.^[3]
• 1841 – Pasticcino, a small pastry, is recorded.^[4]
• 1878 – English pastiche is recorded, from French.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. (cooking) A pie or baked dish of meat, fish, vegetables or pasta, usually enclosed in a pastry case: un pasticcio di pesce.^{[5][13][14][1]}
2. (figurative) A piece of work done badly or carelessly, a mess; a jumble of things in disorder: questo compito è un pasticcio dall'inizio alla fine.^[5][13][14]
3. (figurative) A tangled, difficult situation, a predicament; in the plural, trouble: cacciarsi nei pasticci.^{[5][13][15][1]}
4. (music, theatre) In the 18th century, a pasticcio: an opera or piece put together from works by different composers.^[5][13][15]
5. (architecture) In the late 16th and 17th centuries, a relief made of Roman fragments completed with stucco, set into the walls of palaces.^[5][10][1]
6. A pastiche: an object that is not wholly fake but puts together old fragments arbitrarily.^[5][11]

Word family

• pasticcino
• pasticciare
• pasticcione
• pasticciaccio
• pasticciotto
• impasticciare

Related words

• pasta
• pasticciere
• pasticceria
• French pastiche

Usage notes

Set phrases are fare or combinare pasticci (to make a mess of things) and essere, mettersi or trovarsi nei pasticci (to be in trouble).^[16][15] Pasticcio di fegato d'oca translates French pâté de foie gras.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2797
8. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 749
10. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
11. ^ a b c d e Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
15. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana