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puttana

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word puttana

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
last quarter of the 12th century, Proverbia que dicuntur
Borrowed from
Old French putain
Ultimate origin
Old French pute

Pronunciation

  • /putˈta.na/[1]

Forms

puttana f (plural puttane, masculine puttano)[1] The TLIO lists the Old Italian forms puitana, putana and puctana.[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French putain (about 1119), the old oblique case of pute (“whore”), perhaps by way of Old Occitan putana.[3][4][5][6] Nocentini explains the Old French form as the relic of a feminine declension with the ending -āna in the oblique cases: an accusative *puttāna beside the nominative.[7]

The origin of the Old French noun is disputed.[7][6] DELI, Zingarelli and Treccani follow Wartburg in deriving it from the adjective put (“stinking, foul”), from Latin pūtidus (“stinking”), from pūteō (“to stink”).[3][8][9] Meyer-Lübke rejected that link as hard to accept in meaning, and Nocentini and Devoto–Oli start instead from Vulgar Latin putta (“girl”), feminine of *puttus (“boy”), the source of putto.[6][7][5] In Nocentini's view the shift from “girl” to “prostitute” is a euphemism repeated in many times and places, as with signorina, French demoiselle and German Fräulein; the Vulgar Latin noun already means “prostitute” in Gregory of Tours in the 6th century, and that sense lives on in Spanish puta.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur of the late 12th century, and GRADIT dates the old variant puitana to the 12th century.[2][4] Early in the 13th century Uguccione da Lodi warns that “brigar e usar co le puitane è mortal peccà” (to deal and consort with whores is a mortal sin).[10] Before this, the inscription of San Clemente in Rome (late 11th or early 12th century) has putta in the insult “fili de le pute” (sons of whores).[3]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used the word for a prostitute, also in pubblica puttana, as an insult, in figliuolo di puttana, and for a husband's mistress.[2] Dante places “Taide … la puttana” in the eighth circle of Hell, and the verb puttaneggiare appears in his work before 1313.[10][7] Sputtanare “to disgrace publicly” is recorded in 1849, puttanaio “brothel; mess” in 1931 and puttanata “nonsense; dirty trick” in 1958.[7]

Today the word is vulgar.[4][5] It is also used for anyone, man or woman, who changes behaviour or loyalty for gain, as a strengthening word in curses, and in poker slang for the queen.[4][5][9] Italian lent the word to Greek and Albanian.[11][1]

Timeline

  • Late 11th or early 12th century – The San Clemente inscription uses pute.[3]
  • About 1119 – Old French putain is recorded.[3][4]
  • Last quarter of the 12th century – The Proverbia que dicuntur use the word.[2]
  • 13th century – The Judaeo-Italian Elegia uses puttana.[3]
  • Before 1313 – Dante uses puttaneggiare.[7]
  • 1849 – Sputtanare is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (vulgar) A prostitute, whore.[4][5][12][1]
  2. (vulgar, derogatory) A woman regarded as promiscuous; used as an insult.[4][5][8]
  3. (derogatory, figurative) A person, man or woman, who drops principles or loyalties for advantage.[4][5][9]
  4. (card games, slang) The queen in poker.[4]
  5. (vulgar) Used attributively in curses: porca puttana!, miseria puttana![4][12][9]

Word family

  • puttaniere
  • puttanata
  • puttanaio
  • sputtanare
  • puttaneggiare
  • puttanesca
  • puttanella
  • putta
  • putto
  • French putain
  • Spanish puta

Usage notes

Figlio di puttana “son of a bitch” is an insult for a dishonest person.[4][8][5] Andare a puttane means “to go to prostitutes”, and andare or mandare a puttane also “to go (or send) to ruin”.[8][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 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 i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  9. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  10. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 14, 1067
  11. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3160
  12. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Puttana.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/puttana. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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