zuppa

Forms

zuppa f (plural zuppe)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin suppa, a Late Latin word taken from Proto-Germanic *suppa (“slice of bread soaked in broth”).^[2][1][3] DELI gives the Germanic word the sense “slice of soaked bread” and sets beside it Lombardic *supfa, a Lombardic form, the source of Pistoiese zuffa (“thin polenta”) and of Friulian zuf (“gruel”), also used in Istria.^[3][4] Nocentini compares Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐍀𐍉𐌽 (supōn, “to season”) and Old High German sūfan (“to sip, eat with a spoon”).^[2] Meyer-Lübke also connected the word with the Gothic verb and noted that the Latin form is first recorded in Oribasius.^[4]

The same word is French soupe, Occitan sopa, Catalan sopa, Spanish sopa and Portuguese sopa, and in Gardenese Ladin it is zopa.^[2][4] The German word Suppe came from French.^[5]

Alessio, quoted by DELI, proposed another route: because the Italian word is recorded late, he took it from the word used by Oribasius, thought to be of Eastern origin, through Old French soupe, which spread from France across Europe.^[3] DELI answers that Oribasius uses the word in the Germanic sense, for pieces of bread put into hot liquid: his plural renders a Greek word for morsels of bread.^[3] Panzini likewise thought that the word in the sense “soup” was a Gallicism.^[5]

Devoto explains the initial ⟨z⟩ as a Tuscan adaptation of Germanic /s/.^[6] The form with ⟨s⟩ was kept in the north, and the older Old Italian suppa is recorded in Dante and Sacchetti.^[7][8] The adjective zuppo (“soaked”) is a short participle of zuppare for Nocentini and Sabatini–Coletti, while DELI, after Merlo, takes it from an earlier *inzuppo.^[2][9][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI dates the word to 1437–1438, in Leon Battista Alberti, as a soup of sliced bread in meat, fish or vegetable broth.^[3] Nocentini and Zingarelli place the first record in the early 14th century, and Prati cites the older form suppa from Dante.^[2][8][7] In the 16th century Giovan Maria Cecchi defined it as bread dipped in wine: “Zuppa è quella che comunemente si fa col pane e col vino in un vaso o bicchiere” (a zuppa is what is commonly made with bread and wine in a vessel or glass).^[3][10]

Semantic evolution

The bread was the centre of the old zuppa: Bellincioni used the word for bread in broth in the 15th century, and Cecchi, Allegri and Lippi for bread dipped in wine.^[7][5] Boccaccio names a zuppa lombarda of veal or capon broth with grated cheese and spices.^[7] The use for any broth-based soup appears in the Tommaseo–Bellini dictionary of 1879 and was criticised by purists.^[3]

Figurative senses followed: “a confused mixture of unlike things” before 1729 in Anton Maria Salvini, and “a boring speech or text” in 1898, a use that seems to have started in Milanese.^[3] In northern Italy sopa and supa also mean a nuisance or a long tiresome talk.^[5] The dessert zuppa inglese, ladyfingers soaked in liqueur with custard, is recorded in 1869 and was also called crema savoiarda.^[5]

The proverb se non è zuppa è pan bagnato says that two things differ only in name.^[11][12] Among the derivatives, zuppiera “soup tureen” is dated 1767 by Nocentini and 1829 by DELI, which found it as a Florentine word in a Pavian dictionary.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1437–1438 – Leon Battista Alberti uses zuppa for bread in broth.^[3]
• Before 1587 – Giovan Maria Cecchi defines zuppa as bread dipped in wine.^[3][11]
• Before 1729 – Anton Maria Salvini uses it for a confused mixture.^[3]
• 1767 – Zuppiera “soup tureen” is first recorded.^[2]
• 1869 – Zuppa inglese appears in the Tommaseo–Bellini dictionary.^[5]
• 1879 – The sense “any broth-based soup” is recorded.^[3]
• 1898 – The sense “boring talk” is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. soup: a dish in broth made from many kinds of ingredients, often served with pieces of toasted or fried bread: Stasera preparo una zuppa di farro.^{[11][12][9][13]}
2. Bread or biscuits soaked in milk, eaten especially at breakfast: fare la zuppa is to dip bread or biscuits in a liquid.^[11][12][14]
3. (cooking) zuppa inglese: a trifle-like dessert of sponge cake or ladyfingers soaked in liqueur and layered with custard or cream.^[12][13][8]
4. (figurative) A disorderly hodgepodge of unrelated things.^[11][9][12]
5. (figurative, colloquial) Something long and tedious, such as a speech or a show.^[11][9][8]
6. (biology) zuppa primordiale: the primordial soup.^[8]

Word family

• zuppiera
• zuppetta
• zuppare
• zuppo
• inzuppare

Related words

• French soupe
• Latin suppa

Usage notes

Zuppa is also the feminine of the adjective zuppo “soaked, drenched”.^[9][3] The initial ⟨z⟩ is pronounced either voiced or voiceless.^[1][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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 Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
5. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 4123
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 1077
8. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
12. ^ 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
13. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)