pignatta

Forms

pignatta f (plural pignatte)^[1] Old Italian forms include pignata, pignacta, pingnata, pingnatta and pegnati.^[2] The masculine pignatto is recorded from the first half of the 14th century.^[3]

Etymology

The origin is disputed: the traditional view takes it from Italian pigna (“pine cone”), from the shape of the pot, of its lid, or something else.^{[4][5][6][7][1]} DELI finds support in Caporali, who used pigna itself for a pot before 1601.^[4] Devoto thought the word northern in origin, with an unjustified doubling of a single ⟨t⟩.^[8]

Nocentini and Devoto–Oli derive it from Latin pīnea (“of pine”) as an attribute of olla (“pot”), probably from a lid of pinewood.^[3][9] For Nocentini the base is assured by Marchigiano and Abruzzese pigna (“pot”), and Catalan pinya and Portuguese pinha, used for a stopper of pinewood, support the lid as the motive.^[3]

G. B. Pellegrini (1976) rejected the link with pigna and proposed Vulgar Latin *pinguiātta, from *pinguia olla, a pot for keeping fat or making butter, from Latin pinguis (“fat”), starting from Ladin pegna and Venetian pegna “churn”.^[4][3] The TLIO follows him with a question mark.^[2] Nocentini answers that the Ladin–Venetian forms are marginal beside the central and southern pigna, and that an attested pīnea is preferable to a hypothetical form.^[3] GRADIT leaves the origin uncertain.^[10]

The word is also Old French pignate and Sicilian pignata.^[5][11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Medieval Latin pignata is recorded at Bologna in 1200, and piniatum in the Lucca Compositiones.^[4][5] The first Italian record is in the Pisan translation of Albertano's treatises, before 1287–1288, for a pot of earthenware or other material.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Venetian pignata is recorded in 1315, and Cavalca, before 1342, tells of someone who always went barefoot and kept alone except when scouring the pignatte.^[4][6] The pot's cheapness and fragility gave sayings: Sacchetti's non valere più che una pignatta, to be worth very little, and accompagnare la pignatta al paiuolo, to pair the weak with the strong.^[2][6] The TLIO also records it figuratively for the crater of a volcano.^[2] Tommaseo noted that Florence said pentola where other parts of Tuscany said pignatta, and recorded muso di pignatta bruciata for a smudged face.^[12]

The pignatta di fuoco was an incendiary pot thrown by the defenders of besieged walls.^[9][7] In building, pignatta is a large hollow brick for floors of brick and reinforced concrete.^[10][7] The Spanish word piñata comes from the Italian word, and German took Piñata from Spanish.^[3][13]

Timeline

• 1200 – Medieval Latin pignata is recorded at Bologna.^[4][5]
• Before 1288 – The Pisan translation of Albertano's treatises has the Italian word.^[2]
• 1315 – Venetian pignata is recorded.^[4]
• Before 1342 – Cavalca uses pignatta.^[4][10]
• 15th century – Pignattaio is recorded.^[3]
• 1942 – Spignattare is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A large, deep cooking pot, especially of earthenware, and (colloquial, regional) any pot.^{[10][9][7][1]}
2. The amount of food a pot holds: una pignatta di ceci.^[10][9][14]
3. (historical) An incendiary pot thrown by the defenders of walls in a siege: pignatta di fuoco.^[9][7][10]
4. (building) A large hollow brick used in floor slabs.^{[10][9][15][1]}

Word family

• pignattaio
• pignatto
• pignattella
• pignattino
• spignattare

Related words

• pigna
• pentola
• Spanish piñata

Usage notes

In Latin American contexts pignatta is also used for the piñata filled with sweets.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
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 Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2917
6. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse