Etymologically
Log in

papa

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word papa

papa1 food (nursery word)

Confidence
Established
Formation
Onomatopoeia
First attested
Varro, 116–27 BC

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpaː.pa][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpaː.pa][1]

Forms

pāpa f (genitive pāpae); first declension[1] Also spelled pappa.[2][3][4]

Etymology

The food word is a nursery word, imitating the movement of a baby's lips when it eats.[1][2] Compare English pap and German Papp.[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro reports that small children ask for drink and food with buas and papas.[4][3][6]

Semantic evolution

It remained a word of children's speech,[4][2] and it continued in Romance: Etymonline derives English pap “soft food for infants” from it, through Old French pape.[5]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro records it as a children's word for food.[4][7]
  • late 14th century – English pap is first recorded.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (childish) food, pap.[2][3][6][1]

Word family

  • pappō

papa2 father, bishop, pope

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
Tertullian, c. 160–220 AD
Borrowed from
Ancient Greek πάπας
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek πάππας

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpaː.pa][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpaː.pa][1]

Forms

pāpa m (genitive pāpae, feminine pāpissa); first declension[1]

Etymology

The father and bishop is borrowed from Ancient Greek πάπας (pápas, “father; title of priests and bishops”),[1][8][3] from πάππας (páppas, “papa, daddy”).[1][9] Georges treats it, like the food word, as a natural sound.[2]

Later grammarians derived it from the interjection papae, explaining it as “admirable”.[4][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Christian Latin it appears from the Passion of Perpetua and Tertullian on, as a respectful title for a bishop.[4][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense was “father”,[6][2] and in the Greek form pāpās Juvenal uses it of a child's tutor.[3] Christians addressed their bishops as papa, and the bishop of Alexandria took it as a title about 250.[8][5] In the West it was applied especially to the bishop of Rome from the time of Leo the Great, and after the 8th century it was very rarely used of any other churchman;[5][8] from 1073 the popes claimed it for themselves alone.[5] Medieval writers spoke of the universalis papa or simply papa, the pope,[8][9] and in England the word passed into a surname.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of a bishop.[4][6][7]
  • c. 250 – The bishop of Alexandria takes it as a title.[5]
  • 348–c. 413 AD – Prudentius addresses a bishop as optime papa.[6][7]
  • 440–461 – Under Leo the Great it is applied especially to the bishop of Rome.[5]
  • early 8th century – Bede calls Gregory papa urbis Romae.[9][7]
  • 9th century – Old English has it as papa, the source of pope.[5]
  • 1073 – The popes claim the title exclusively.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A father, papa.[6][2][1]
  2. (in the form pāpās) A child's tutor.[3]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A bishop, as a title of respect.[4][6][8][1]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The pope, the bishop of Rome.[8][9][11][1]
  5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A patriarch, especially of Alexandria.[1]

Word family

  • pāpālis
  • pāpātus
  • pāpissa

Usage notes

Wiktionary lists the phrase habēmus pāpam, “we have a pope”.[1] The DMLBS records the title used ironically by the Albigensians for their heresiarch in 1223.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b c d e f Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b c d e f Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  10. ^ Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  11. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson

Borrowed into

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Papa.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/papa. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·