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ricotta

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word ricotta

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1320 More words from the 14th century
Ultimate origin
Italian ricotto
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Italian cuocere
Italian ricotta

Pronunciation

  • /riˈkɔt.ta/[1]

Forms

ricotta f (plural ricotte)[1] Old forms include Old Italian recotta, Old Italian recota and Old Italian ricocta.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Italian ricotto (“cooked again”), the past participle of ricuocere “to cook again”, used as a feminine noun.[4][5][6][1] The cheese is named so because it is made by cooking the whey a second time, after the cheese itself has been made.[4][7] The verb is from Italian ri- + cuocere.[5][4] The participle has ⟨o⟩, not the diphthong ⟨uo⟩, because its vowel stands in a closed syllable.[8]

The participle Latin recoctus, of recoquere, also survives in Sardinian regottu and Spanish recocho.[9] Wiktionary gives the source as Latin recocta.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini, GRADIT and Devoto–Oli date the word to before 1320.[5][6][10] The TLIO's first record is in Niccolò da Poggibonsi after 1345, a Tuscan text, for the soft cheese made from whey.[2] DELI's first record is the Italian version of Crescenzi's treatise on agriculture (about 1350).[4]

Semantic evolution

In the Crescenzi translation a hawk's meat is to be smeared di ricotta e mele (“with ricotta and honey”).[3][11] A Trecento song has a street cry A la recotta fiesca! (“Fresh ricotta!”).[12] Later texts discuss its merits as food: Romoli held it less harmful to the stomach than new cheese.[12] Varchi, in a comic poem, decided that the ambrosia of the gods was ricotta.[11] Technical writers also used ricotta for a second firing or heating, as of assaying cupels.[12]

The word belongs to central and southern Italy, reaching Emilia.[9] The north says mascherpa or mascherpino (Lombardy, eastern Piedmont and Liguria) and puina (Veneto and Trentino).[9] Roman slang made ricottaro a “kept man”, compared by Prati with French slang “mangeur de blanc”.[9][13] Modern Italian says that a weak person is di ricotta, “made of ricotta”.[10][7][14]

English had ricoct in 1582 and has ricotta cheese from 1815 (Recotti already in 1593). German has had Ricotta from 1838 and French from 1911.[15]

Timeline

  • Before 1320 – Ricotta is first recorded.[5][6]
  • After 1345 – Niccolò da Poggibonsi uses ricotta.[2]
  • About 1350 – The Italian version of Crescenzi names ricotta as a food.[4]
  • 1582 – English ricoct is recorded.[15]
  • 1815 – English ricotta cheese is recorded.[15]
  • 1838 – German Ricotta is recorded.[15]
  • 1911 – French ricotta is recorded.[15]

Meanings

Noun

  1. ricotta: a soft white fresh cheese made by heating the whey of sheep's or cow's milk left over from cheese-making: Ho comprato un etto di ricotta di pecora.[6][10][16][14]
  2. (figurative, derogatory) di ricotta: without strength, weak in body or character: Quel portiere ha le mani di ricotta.[10][7][17][18]

Word family

  • ricottaio
  • ricottaro
  • ricottina

Usage notes

Common kinds are ricotta romana, from sheep's milk, and the salted and aged ricotta salata.[6][14] Mani di ricotta are hands that cannot hold anything.[10][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  4. ^ a b c d e 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 Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3249
  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. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  12. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 16, 156
  13. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 837
  14. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
  15. ^ a b c d e Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  16. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  17. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  18. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
Cite this entry

“Ricotta.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/it/ricotta. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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