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pompa

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word pompa

pompa1 pomp

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1271–1275 Fiori di filosafi (Florentine)
Borrowed from
Latin pompa
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek πέμπω
Etymology tree of pompa1
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek πέμπω (pémpō)
Ancient Greek πομπή (pompḗ)
Latin pompa
English pomp
French pompe
Romanian pompă
Italian pompa
Spanish pompa
The journey of pompa1
From the same root · pompa1
English pompous ← πομπή
Latin pompōsus ← pompa

Pronunciation

Forms

pompa f (plural pompe)[1]

Etymology

The word for pomp is learned: it is borrowed from Latin pŏmpa (“procession; display, pomp”).[2][3][4][1] The Latin word, already in Plautus, is from Ancient Greek πομπή (pompḗ, “a sending; escort, solemn procession”), from πέμπω (pémpō, “to send, escort”).[3][5][6][1] DELI and the GDLI call the Greek verb of uncertain origin.[2][7]

The same Latin word gave French pompe and Spanish pompa.[3] DEI also compares the French word, recorded from the 14th century.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Florentine Fiori di filosafi (1271–1275), with the sense of a display of luxury and magnificence.[8] DELI's first record is Jacopone, before 1306, who complains that pompa has replaced the just prelates.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian pompa was luxury and splendour, and also arrogant self-display; the pompe del demonio were the devil's alluring vanities.[8] Boccaccio has a funeral pompa with candles and chants, and Tasso uses the word for a solemn procession, the sense of the Latin.[9][4]

The pompa funebre is the whole of a funeral's honours, and an impresa di pompe funebri, or simply pompe funebri, is an undertaker's firm.[10][11] In Venice the leggi delle pompe were the sumptuary laws.[12][11] In pompa magna now means jokingly in one's very best clothes, and far pompa di to show off something.[10][13]

Timeline

  • 1271–1275 – Pompa appears in the Florentine Fiori di filosafi.[8]
  • Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi uses the word.[2]
  • About 1344 – Boccaccio uses pomposo “pompous”.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. pomp, solemn splendour at a public or private ceremony: Il matrimonio fu celebrato con grande pompa.[4][14][10]
  2. Luxury, display: le pompe del mondo.[4][12]
  3. Show, ostentation: far pompa dei propri viaggi.[4][10] Also vanity, pride.[4][12][10]
  4. (historical) A solemn procession, as in ancient Rome.[4][14][11]

Word family

  • pomposo
  • pomposità
  • pompeggiare

pompa2 pump

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1525
Borrowed from
French pompe
Ultimate origin
Dutch pompe
Etymology tree of pompa2
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek πέμπω (pémpō)
Ancient Greek πομπή (pompḗ)
Latin pompa
English pomp
French pompe
Italian pompa
Romanian pompă
Spanish pompa
The journey of pompa2
From the same root · pompa2
English pompous ← πομπή
Latin pompōsus ← pompa

Pronunciation

Forms

pompa f (plural pompe)[1]

Etymology

The word for the machine is borrowed from French pompe, recorded in French in this sense from 1517.[2][3][4][15] The French word is from Dutch pompe, recorded about 1450 and of imitative origin, which also gave English pump and German Pumpe.[3][2][5] Nocentini takes Spanish bomba (“pump”), recorded in 1490, as an independent formation of the same kind.[3]

DELI's earliest Italian evidence is Oudin's dictionary of 1663, an isolated record which may even belong to pompa1.[2] In 1804 D'Alberti called the word a French sailors' term for the tromba of ships.[2][15]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the word to before 1525, Nocentini and Devoto–Oli to the early 16th century, for a machine that lifts or moves liquids.[4][3][12]

Semantic evolution

In the early 19th century pompa was still felt as French, beside the native tromba, but pompiere “fireman” is recorded at Milan in 1811.[2][15] In wind instruments the pompa is the sliding tube used for tuning (1826).[2][9] From 1942 the word names the petrol pump at the roadside, with pompista for its attendant.[2][9]

It also names a garden hose, a bicycle pump, and in vulgar use fellatio.[4][12] Italian passed the word to Ottoman Turkish, and so to Turkish and Armenian, and to Amharic.[1]

Timeline

  • Before 1525 – The first Italian record.[4]
  • 1640 – Pompare “to pump” is recorded by Oudin.[2]
  • 1663 – Oudin's dictionary has pompa.[2]
  • 1804 – D'Alberti calls the word a French sailors' term.[2]
  • 1811 – Pompieri “firemen” are named at Milan.[2]
  • 1826 – The tuning slide of wind instruments is called pompa.[2]
  • 1942 – Pompa and pompista are recorded for the petrol pump.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A pump, a machine that lifts or moves liquids or gases: pompa idraulica, pompa di calore “heat pump”.[4][12][16]
  2. A distributore of petrol, a petrol pump: Ci fermiamo alla pompa sull'autostrada.[4][12][16]
  3. A flexible hose for watering.[4][12]
  4. (music) In wind instruments, the sliding tube used to raise or lower the pitch.[4][12][9]
  5. (metallurgy) An iron rod moved through cast metal to keep it uniform as it sets.[4][14]
  6. (vulgar) fellatio.[4][1]

Word family

  • pompare
  • pompaggio
  • pompata
  • pompiere
  • pompista
  • pompino
  • pompetta
  • spompare

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3011
  6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  8. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  9. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  10. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  11. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  14. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  15. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 794
  16. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Pompa.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/pompa. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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