ricetta

Forms

ricetta f (plural ricette)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian recepta, Old Italian recetta, Old Italian ricepta and Old Italian riceta.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin recepta (“received (formula)”), the feminine of receptus (“received”), the past participle of recipiō (“to receive, take”), with fōrmula understood.^[3][4][5][6] Medical prescriptions began with the imperative recipe (“take!”), and the written formula was the thing “received”.^[3][4][7][8] The Latin verb is a compound of re- and capiō (“to take”).^[9]

The same word is French recette and Spanish receta, and Sicilian rizzetta.^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini and GRADIT date the word to before 1320.^[4][5] DELI's first dated record, about 1350 in the Italian version of Pietro de' Crescenzi, has the sense “a doctor's written order for medicines, sent to the apothecary”.^[4][5][3]

Semantic evolution

By extension the word soon meant a remedy or expedient, also figuratively: Pucci used it so before 1388.^[3] Early texts use it for a formula for medicines, medicaments and cosmetics.^[2] Francesco da Barberino speaks of two ricette for making hair blond.^[2] In the 14th century the verb ricettare “to prescribe” was formed from it, and the collection of formulas, the ricettario, is recorded from 1498 as Receptario.^[3]

The culinary sense, the list of ingredients and the method for preparing a dish or a drink, is dated by DELI to 1891, though Berni, before 1535, already wrote of a ricettario where one learns to make jelly.^[3] Turkish borrowed the word as Turkish reçete.^[1]

Timeline

• Before 1320 – The word is first recorded.^[4][5]
• About 1350 – The Italian version of Crescenzi uses it for a doctor's prescription.^[3]
• Before 1388 – Pucci uses it for a remedy or expedient.^[3]
• 1498 – Receptario “collection of formulas” is recorded.^[3]
• 1891 – It is recorded in the sense of a cooking recipe.^[3]
• 1959 – A mining ricetta, from French, is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (medicine) A prescription: a doctor's written order for a medicine and how to take it, or the slip of paper it is written on: Senza ricetta il farmacista non può darti quel farmaco.^{[5][10][9][1]}
2. A remedy or cure: una ricetta per il raffreddore.^{[5][10][6][1]}
3. (figurative) A means or expedient for dealing with something: la ricetta per vincere la timidezza.^[5][10][11]
4. A recipe: the ingredients, quantities and method for preparing a dish, a drink or another mixture: ricette di cucina.^{[5][10][6][1]}

Word family

• ricettario
• ricettare
• ricettista

Related words

• ricetto
• recipe
• ricevere
• French recette
• Latin recipio

Usage notes

Avere la ricetta pronta is said, often jokingly, of someone who always has a quick remedy.^[12][10] GRADIT records a separate mining term ricetta (1959), the area connecting a gallery with an extraction shaft, taken from the French mining term recette (in this sense from 1863).^[5] An obsolete ricetta “tax revenue”, also from French, appears in 16th-century reports.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 16, 70
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
11. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
12. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana