polenta

Forms

polenta f (plural polente)^[1] Tuscan has polenda and popular pulenda, shaped after molenda.^[2][3][4] The TLIO also records the spelling Old Italian pollenta.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin polenta (“barley groats, barley meal”), a food of roasted barley meal.^[2][6][7][1] The Latin word is derived from pollen (“fine flour, powder”) with a collective suffix, according to de Vaan and Nocentini;^[8][6][2][9] DELI and GRADIT compare it with pollen and with puls (“porridge”).^[8][6][2][9] De Vaan finds possible Greek relatives such as Ancient Greek πάλη (pálē, “fine flour”) and πόλτος (póltos, “porridge”); a link with the root Proto-Indo-European *pelh₁- (“to swing”) remains very speculative.^[8]

The same Latin word is Sardinian pulenta, Friulian polente, Romansh polenta and Spanish pulienta and Aromanian purintă (“unclean food”).^[10][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in the Italian translation of Pietro de' Crescenzi's treatise on agriculture (about 1350): a kind of field lettuce whose leaves, pounded with polenta, are good for the inner organs.^[2][4] At first the word meant roasted barley meal, as in Latin; the TLIO's first record is the Tuscan translation of Palladius.^[5] GRADIT dates the word before 1320, Zingarelli to 1312.^[9][11]

Semantic evolution

The food changed with the cereal: in older times polenta was made from barley or millet, now above all from maize, or from chestnuts.^[12][13] In northern Italy it is made from maize flour, while in Tuscany the polenta dolce is made from chestnut flour.^[6][14] By extension the word is used for any thick, sticky soup.^[9][14]

The derivative polentone meant a slow, lazy person (as polendone in 1798), and in the 20th century became a nickname for northern Italians, the “polenta eaters”, among southern soldiers; it is the counterpart of terrone.^[2][12]

French has polenta from 1807, after an isolated record in 1360;^[15][1] German has had Polenta since 1614, in Austria also Plente.^[15][1] English took the Latin word in Old English for barley meal, and took it again from Italian in the 19th century for maize porridge.^[16]

Timeline

• About 1350 – The Italian translation of Crescenzi uses polenta.^[2]
• 1614 – German Polenta is recorded.^[15]
• 1798 – Polendone is used for a slow, lazy person.^[2]
• 1807 – French polenta is established.^[15]
• 1942 – Polentone is recorded as a nickname for northern Italians.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A dish of maize flour cooked in salted water and stirred until it becomes thick, typical of northern Italy; it may be sliced and served with various dressings.^[9][14][3]
2. (by extension) The yellow maize flour used to make the dish.^[9][17]
3. (by extension, derogatory) A dish, especially a soup, that is too thick and sticky: questa minestra è una polenta.^[9][14][11]
4. (figurative) A slow, sluggish person.^[3]

Word family

• polentone
• polentaio
• polentata
• polentina
• polentoso

Related words

• polline
• Latin polenta

Usage notes

Kinds of the dish include polenta taragna (with buckwheat, from Lombardy), polenta nera (of buckwheat, from Trentino), polenta concia (with cheese) and polenta dolce (of chestnut flour).^[9][18][11]

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 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 Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
5. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
6. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ 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
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2991
13. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 791
14. ^ 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
15. ^ a b c d Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
16. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
17. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
18. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)