zenzero

Forms

zenzero m (plural zenzeri)^[1] Older forms are zenzevero, zenzovero and zenzavero.^[2][1] The other line of descent has gengiovo, gengevo and gengero.^[2][1] Old Italian texts have dozens of variants, such as Old Italian zenzavro, Old Italian çençevro and Old Italian giengiovo.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Venetian zenzevro in origin: Nocentini, following Tomasin, holds that the word came from Venice, where it is first recorded in this form in 1299, and that it was later simplified and displaced Old Italian gengiovo, the Tuscan form.^[4] Both forms continue Latin zingiber (“ginger”), also written zingiberi.^[4][1][5] The spelling gingiber is found from the 3rd century.^[1] DELI instead calls it a learned word taken from the Latin.^[6]

Mancini held that the Latin word was lost with the spice and brought back in the Middle Ages through Arabic, and DELI quotes Cardona for an Arabic form behind the western names.^[4][6] Corriente rejects this on phonetic grounds, and Nocentini sees continuity in the Old Italian forms and in French gingembre, which continues the Latin accusative.^[4] The same word is Occitan gingibre and Catalan gingebre, and Spanish jengibre is taken from Occitan or Catalan.^[4] The French word is the source of the English word ginger.^[4]

The Latin word is from Ancient Greek ζιγγίβερι (zingíberi), also ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis).^[4][1][2] The Greek word is of Indian origin.^[6][7] Wiktionary takes it from Prakrit siṃgivera, from Old Tamil, a compound of Tamil இஞ்சி (iñci, “ginger”) and வேர் (vēr, “root”).^[1] Nocentini names the Pali form and thinks it is probably of Dravidian origin.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The spice is recorded in Italian texts from the 13th century, first in the Tuscan form gengiovo in the Sienese merchant Mattasalà (1233–1243), and as zenzevro in 1299.^[3][4] The form zenzero is recorded about 1420.^[4] DELI's first certain example is in Ludovico de Varthema's travels, before 1517: the 14th-century example in the dictionaries, from the Libro della cura delle malattie, is one of Redi's forgeries.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian merchants distinguished kinds of ginger: gengiovo bianco, the peeled root, gengiovo belledi, from the west coast of India, and gengiovo colombino, from Kollam in south-western India.^[3] Tommaseo describes it as a spice tasting like pepper but much less sharp.^[8]

DELI suggests that Old Italian zenzeria “sharpness, bitterness”, used by Antonio Pucci and Donato Velluti, may come from the name of the spice.^[6] In Tuscany zenzero also names the red chilli pepper.^[9][10][11] Czech and Slovak zázvor may have been borrowed from the Italian word.^[1]

Timeline

• 1233–1243 – Gengiovo is recorded in Mattasalà's accounts.^[3]
• 1299 – Venetian zenzevro is recorded.^[4]
• Before 1324 – Giengievo is recorded.^[9]
• c. 1420 – The form zenzero appears.^[4]
• Before 1517 – Ludovico de Varthema uses zenzero.^[6]
• Before 1698 – GRADIT's date for the word.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) ginger (Zingiber officinale), a perennial tropical plant with a thick aromatic rhizome.^[9][12][2]
2. The spice made from its rhizome, used in cooking, in drinks and in medicine: una tisana al limone e zenzero.^[9][7][13]
3. (Tuscany) Red chilli pepper.^[9][10][11]

Related words

• gengiovo
• Latin zingiber
• French gingembre

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
3. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
9. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
11. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
12. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana