pentola

Forms

pentola f (plural pentole, diminutive pentolino, augmentative pentolone, pejorative pentolaccia)^[1] Old Italian forms include pentolla and pentule.^[2] The stressed vowel is pronounced closed or open.^[3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *pinta (“painted”) with a diminutive ending, properly a “painted pot”, from the glazed earthenware of which such pots were made.^{[4][3][5][6][7]} The Vulgar Latin form stands for classical Latin picta, the feminine past participle of pingō (“to paint”).^[4][8][1] GRADIT more cautiously proposes *pintula.^[9]

Nocentini reconstructs *pincta, with an /n/ taken from the perfect pinxī, and shortened from a phrase with Latin olla (“pot”), “painted pot”.^[10] The same participle gave pinta and Old Occitan pinta, a measure of wine, which passed into French pinte and Spanish pinta.^[11][10] DEI and the GDLI describe the word as one of central and northern Italy.^[7][12]

Tommaseo reports older guesses: Latin pendula (“hanging”), Ancient Greek πίθος (píthos, “storage jar”), or a link with pignatta.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Andrea da Grosseto, a Tuscan text of 1268, for an earthenware cooking pot with two handles.^[2][3] DELI's earliest example is in the Novellino, at the end of the 13th century, which notes that In Lombardia e nella Marca si chiamano le pentole ole (“In Lombardy and the Marche pots are called ole”).^[4][12]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used the pot as an image of weakness beside stronger things: a proverb warns that whoever pairs la pentola col pajolo (“the pot with the cauldron”) will see the pot broken when they knock together.^[2][13] Boccaccio's Decameron has women sent to the kitchen a annoverare e pentole e le scodelle (“to count the pots and bowls”).^[12][13] The sense “potful” appears in the 15th century.^[4]

Derivatives date from the beginning: pentolaio, a maker or seller of pots, is in the Novellino, and pentolino before 1342.^[4] Pentolaccia, the game of breaking a hanging pot of gifts blindfold, is recorded in 1841; it was played on the first Sunday of Lent.^[4][7] Physics named the pentola di Papin in 1828, and the pressure cooker is the pentola a pressione.^[7][8] Figuratively, qualcosa bolle in pentola means that something is being prepared in secret.^[9][6]

Timeline

• 1268 – First record, in Andrea da Grosseto (Tuscan).^[2][3]
• Late 13th century – The Novellino uses pentola and pentolaio.^[4]
• Before 1342 – Pentolino is recorded.^[4]
• 15th century – The sense “potful” appears.^[4]
• 1618 – Pentolata, a blow with a pot, is recorded.^[4]
• 1828 – Pentola di Papin is recorded in physics.^[7]
• 1841 – Pentolaccia is recorded for the game.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (cooking) pot, saucepan: a cylindrical cooking vessel with two handles and a lid, now mostly of metal: metti l'acqua nella pentola grande.^[1][9][8][3]
2. A potful: una pentola di brodo.^{[9][8][14][1]}
3. (history) Pentola di fuoco: an old incendiary weapon, a pot filled with explosive matter and lit by a fuse, thrown at besiegers.^[9][3][14]

Word family

• pentolino
• pentolone
• pentolaccia
• pentolaio
• pentolata
• sottopentola

Related words

• pinta
• pignatta
• dipingere
• Latin pingō

Usage notes

Pignatta is a regional synonym.^[14] The proverb il diavolo fa le pentole ma non i coperchi says that evil deeds come to light sooner or later.^[1][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
6. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2840
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ a b c 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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse