cucina Italian · revision 38392

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=mid-13th century, Miracole de Roma|origins=ine-pro *pekʷ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kuˈt͡ʃi.na/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cucina''' ''f'' (plural cucine)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|cocina]], [[roa-oit|cusina]] and [[roa-oit|coxina]].^(TLIO) An old masculine ''cocino'' or ''cucino'' “kitchen” is also recorded.^(GDLI)^(Prati 1951|355)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|cocīna|t=kitchen]], the Late Latin form of classical [[m|la|coquīna]], a derivative of [[m|la|coquō|t=to cook]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Late Latin verb [[m|la-lat|cocīnō]] stood beside it in the same way for classical [[m|la|coquīnō]].^(DELI 1999) The Lombard of Ticino keeps the classical form in [[m|lmo|cuvina|t=makeshift kitchen]].^(DEI|1183)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The word is found across Romance: [[fr|cuisine]], [[oc|cozina]], [[ca|cuina]], [[es|cocina]] and [[pt|cozinha]], but not in Romanian.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(DEI|1183) It was borrowed early into the Germanic languages, giving [[de|Küche]] and the source of [[m|en|kitchen]], and into [[cy|cegin]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ De Vaan derives the Latin verb from [[itc-pro|*kʷekʷe/o-|t=to cook]], from [[ine-pro|*pekʷ-e/o-|t=to cook]], with the first consonant assimilated to the second, as in [[m|la|quīnque|t=five]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The same root gave [[grc|πέσσω|tr=péssō|t=to cook, ripen]] and [[sa|पचति|tr=pácati|t=cooks]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Roman ''Miracole de Roma'' of the mid-13th century, with the sense “the part of a building where food is prepared and cooked”.^(TLIO) DELI's earliest date is before 1294, in Brunetto Latini, where the word means “cooked food”, and the sense “kitchen” is found at the end of the 13th century in Folgore da San Gimignano, who closes a day's hunting with wine and “the kitchen smoking” (''fumar la cucina'').^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “the art of cooking” appears in the 14th century, in the Italian translation of Seneca.^(DELI 1999) Old Italian also used the word for a shop selling cooked food, for the catering of a community and for vegetables to eat.^(TLIO) Tuscan proverbs such as ''vecchia gallina ingrassa la cucina'' (“an old hen fattens the kitchen”) were recorded by Tommaseo.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ The sense “cooking stove” probably arose at sea: in 1813 Stratico describes the ship's ''cucina'' as a large square box serving as a hearth, and praises the iron stoves invented by an English maker.^(DELI 1999) The ''cucina economica'' was a wood or coal stove with an oven and often a water tank.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) In the 20th century the word came to mean the kitchen furniture, as in ''cucina americana'' or ''cucina all'americana'' for fitted units, and in journalists' slang the editorial work on a newspaper.^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI)^(Zingarelli 2010) ''Cucinino'' and ''cucinotto'' for a small kitchen are first recorded in 1965 and 1955.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Mid-13th century – The ''Miracole de Roma'' have the word for a kitchen.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for cooked food.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo has the verb ''cucinare'' in a figurative sense.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Late 13th century – Folgore da San Gimignano uses it for the kitchen.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – The sense “art of cooking” appears in the translated Seneca.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses ''cuciniere'' “cook”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1813 – Stratico describes the ship's stove as a ''cucina''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1955 – ''Cucinotto'' “kitchenette” is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1965 – ''Cucinino'' is recorded in the Zingarelli supplement.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|kitchen]], the room where food is prepared and cooked: ''Ceniamo in cucina, fa più caldo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The [[m|en|furniture]] and fittings of a kitchen: ''Hanno montato la cucina nuova sabato.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A [[m|en|stove]], cooker: ''una cucina a induzione''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # [[m|en|cooking]], the art of preparing food; a style of cooking, [[m|en|cuisine]]: ''la cucina siciliana''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' Cooked food: ''In corridoio si sentiva odore di cucina.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(journalism, slang)'' Editorial work on a newspaper; the editorial staff.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # In a dairy, the room where cheese is made.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cucinare]]

+ * [[cuciniere]]

+ * [[cucinino]]

+ * [[cucinotto]]

+ * [[cucinetta]]

+ * [[retrocucina]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cucinario]]

+ * [[cuocere]]

+ * [[cuoco]]

+ * [[la|coquina]]

+ * [[fr|cuisine]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Cucina'' is also the third person singular present and the imperative of [[cucinare]].^(Wikizionario) ''Bassa cucina'' is a figurative name for humble, unseen work, and ''uso di cucina'' the right to use the kitchen in a shared flat.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}