torta Italian · revision 38236

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=mid-13th century, Mugello tithe list|origins=la-lat torta}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈtor.ta/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''torta''' ''f'' (plural torte)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|torta|alt=tōrta|t=round flat loaf]], the word the Vulgate (before 420) uses to translate [[grc|ἄρτος|tr=ártos|t=bread]], in the sense of a flat round loaf, which the Reichenau Glosses confirm.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) Medieval Latin had the form [[m|la-med|turta]] at Ravenna in the 10th century.^(DEI|3835)^(GDLI) The same word is [[fr|tourte]], [[oc|torta]], [[es|torta]], [[pt|torta]], [[ro|turtă]] and [[fur|torte]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

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+ The further origin is uncertain.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) The obvious source, [[la|tortus|t=twisted]], the past participle of [[m|la|torqueō|t=to twist]], has a short vowel, while the Romance forms need a long ⟨ō⟩ or ⟨u⟩: Meyer-Lübke held the link phonetically impossible, and DELI too sees no connection, although the FEW and other scholars have tried to explain the difference.^(REW 1935)^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Devoto and Devoto–Oli still explain the word as “rolled (dough)”, the feminine of that participle.^(Devoto 1968)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Nocentini prefers Corominas's proposal: a Greek diminutive [[grc|ἀρτίδιον|tr=artídion|t=small loaf]] of the same Greek noun, contracted with the article, from which Late Latin would have taken the word by dropping the diminutive suffix, while another contraction gave the variant behind [[fr|tarte]].^(Nocentini 2010) The Latin word is also recorded as [[la|turta]] in the Vindolanda tablets, and Wiktionary compares [[grc|τούρτα|tr=toúrta|t=cake of dates and flour baked in ashes]].^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is a mid-13th-century tithe list from the Mugello, north of Florence, which names “a loaf, a ''torta'' and three loaves”.^(TLIO)^(GDLI)^(Nocentini 2010) The early sense was a pie of mixed ingredients spread on a pastry base and baked, often savoury: in the ''Novellino'' (late 13th century) a heart is made into a ''torta'' and served to a countess.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian ''torte'' were mostly savoury: the ''Tavola Ritonda'' lists “many well-salted pies” beside roast meat, ham and cheese, and a 14th-century cookery book has ''torte'' of capons, pheasants, fish and apples.^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The modern sense, a round sweet cake made of flour, milk, eggs and sugar, is first dated by DELI to Florio's dictionary of 1598.^(DELI 1999) In the same period came ''tortino'', a small flat pie of vegetables (before 1566, Annibal Caro), and ''tortiera'', the round baking tin (1598), taken from French ''tourtière''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) ''Tortello'' (mid-14th century) and ''tortellino'' (1850) are diminutives.^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ Figurative uses are old: ''menare la torta'' “to intrigue, to bustle about” was used in Milan, and ''dividersi la torta'' “to share out the cake” means to split a profit, usually an illicit one, or the posts of power.^(Prati 1951)^(DEI|3835)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) A ''grafico a torta'' is a pie chart.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003) In heraldry a ''torta'' is a roundel.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

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+ German took the word as ''Torte'' (1516), and, from German it reached English ''torte'' (1748), Russian, Polish and other languages.^(DIFIT)^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 420 – The Vulgate uses Late Latin ''torta'' for a flat round loaf.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 10th century – Medieval Latin ''turta'' is recorded at Ravenna.^(DEI|3835)

+ * Mid-13th century – ''Torta'' appears in a tithe list from the Mugello.^(TLIO)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * Late 13th century – The ''Novellino'' uses it for a baked pie.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Mid-14th century – The diminutive ''tortello'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1516 – German ''Torte'' is first recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * Before 1566 – Annibal Caro has ''tortino''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1598 – Florio records ''torta'' as a sweet round cake, and ''tortiera''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1748 – English ''torte'' is borrowed from German.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1850 – ''Tortellino'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|cake]]: a sweet baked dish, usually round and flat, made with flour, butter, eggs and sugar and often named after an added ingredient: ''Per il suo compleanno le ho preparato una torta di pere.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A similar savoury dish, a [[m|en|pie]] or [[m|en|quiche]] filled with vegetables, cheese or ham, as in ''torta salata'' and ''torta rustica''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative, colloquial)'' A large profit, usually illicit, or the posts of power, to be shared out: ''Prima ancora del voto pensavano già a spartirsi la torta.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(heraldry)'' A [[m|en|roundel]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tortello]]

+ * [[tortellino]]

+ * [[tortellone]]

+ * [[tortino]]

+ * [[tortiera]]

+ * [[tortaio]]

+ * [[tortano]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[torto]]

+ * [[torcere]]

+ * [[fr|tourte]]

+ * [[fr|tarte]]

+ * [[de|Torte]]

+ * [[la|turta]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Fixed phrases include ''ciliegina sulla torta'' “the cherry on the cake”, ''torta pasqualina'', a Ligurian Easter pie of greens and eggs, and ''prendere a torte in faccia'' “to treat with contempt”, after the custard-pie gags of silent film comedy.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) A different, rare ''torta'', pronounced with an open /ɔ/, means a quick twist or wring (''dare una torta a uno straccio''); it is the feminine of ''torto'', the past participle of ''torcere'', and is dated to 1865.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011) The cake has a closed /o/.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Treccani 2011)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}