piatto Italian · revision 38483

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1288–1290, Florentine documents|origins=grc πλατύς}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpjat.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''piatto''' (feminine piatta, masculine plural piatti, feminine plural piatte)^(Wiktionary)

+ As a noun: '''piatto''' ''m'' (plural piatti, diminutive piattino or piattello, augmentative piattone)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-vul|*plattus|t=flat]], a popular adaptation of [[grc|πλατύς|tr=platús|t=broad, flat]] with an expressive double consonant.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968)^(Wiktionary)^(DEI|2897)^(Prati 1951) The Greek adjective is of Indo-European origin and belongs to the same family as [[la|planta|t=sole of the foot]], the source of [[pianta]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968)^(DELI 1999) The Vulgar Latin word is pan-Romance: [[fr|plat]], [[oc|plat]], [[ca|plat]], [[es|chato]], [[pt|chato]] and [[sc|piattu]]; the French word passed into German.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907) In southern Italy the inherited form is its doublet [[chiatto]], and the standard word there comes from the literary language.^(Wiktionary)^(DEI|2897)^(Prati 1951)

+

+ The noun, “plate, dish”, is the adjective used as a noun.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(GDLI) The French noun gave [[es|plato]].^(REW 1935)^(DEI|2897) The figurative sense “dull, flat” and the bookbinder's sense “book cover” follow the French adjective, which had them in 1588 and 1881.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The noun comes first, in Florentine accounts of 1288–1290: “ten tin plates cost one lira twelve soldi” (''x piatti di stangno kostaro libre I soldi xii'').^(GDLI)^(DELI 1999) In the ''Novellino'' a father has gold and silver brought out “in plates and vessels”.^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The adjective is used of the foot by Zucchero Bencivenni in 1310 and for flat-bottomed boats by Giovanni Villani, who died in 1348.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun spread to the food served on a plate (about 1525, Antonio Pigafetta), the flat part of something (1561), any flat round object (1660), the stakes in card games and the dish holding them (1526) and, in the plural, the cymbals (before 1729, Anton Maria Salvini).^(DELI 1999) ''Piattonata'', a blow with the flat of a sword, is in Franco Sacchetti before 1400.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The adjective gained ''angolo piatto'', the 180° angle (1892), and the sense “dull, inexpressive”, which the purist Alfredo Panzini blamed on French in 1905, complaining of a book that spoke of ''piatto realismo''.^(DELI 1999) ''Piedipiatti'' “cop” (1959) copies American English ''flat feet'', a scornful name first given to foot soldiers.^(Nocentini 2010) The biblical ''per un piatto di lenticchie'', “for a mess of pottage”, means selling something valuable for very little.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Italian ''piatto'' was borrowed into Greek, Albanian and Ottoman Turkish.^(Wiktionary)^(DEI|2897)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1288–1290 – Florentine accounts record ''piatti'' “plates”.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+ * 1310 – Zucchero Bencivenni uses the adjective of the foot.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani writes of ''piatte navi'' “flat boats”.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+ * Before 1400 – Franco Sacchetti has ''piattonata''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * About 1525 – Pigafetta uses ''piatto'' for a dish of food.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1526 – The sense “stakes in a card game” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1729 – Salvini uses ''piatti'' for cymbals.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1892 – ''Angolo piatto'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1905 – Panzini notes the French-inspired sense “dull”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1959 – ''Piedipiatti'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|flat]]: having an even surface, without hollows or bumps; also, thin: ''Per far rimbalzare i sassi sull'acqua bisogna sceglierli ben piatti.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Of land, without relief; of the sea, calm, without waves: ''Stamattina il lago era piatto come l'olio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Of the face, nose or bust, not prominent.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Dull, lacking originality or expression: ''Il film ha una trama piatta e prevedibile.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' ''angolo piatto'': a straight angle, of 180°.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Of a graph or trace, showing no variation: ''elettroencefalogramma piatto''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(oenology)'' Of wine, lacking acidity.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|plate]] or [[m|en|dish]], the round vessel from which food is served and eaten: ''Dopo cena tocca a me lavare i piatti.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # The food on a plate; a dish or course: ''Il suo piatto forte è il risotto ai funghi.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # A flat round object, such as the pan of a scale; in the plural, ''(music)'' [[m|en|cymbal|alt=cymbals]]: ''Il batterista ha montato dei piatti nuovi.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The flat side of a blade; in bookbinding, either of the two boards of a cover.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999)

+ # The stakes in a game of chance: ''Con quel poker si è preso tutto il piatto.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999)

+ # A turntable.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[piattello]]

+ * [[piattezza]]

+ * [[piattina]]

+ * [[piattino]]

+ * [[piattonare]]

+ * [[piattonata]]

+ * [[piattaia]]

+ * [[spiattellare]]

+ * [[appiattare]]

+ * [[appiattire]]

+ * [[appiattimento]]

+ * [[piedipiatti]]

+ * [[rimpiattare]]

+ * [[rimpiattino]]

+ * [[soppiatto]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[chiatto]]

+ * [[pianta]]

+ * [[grc|πλατύς|tr=platús]]

+ * [[fr|plat]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A different, obsolete Tuscan adjective ''piatto'' meant “crouched, hidden”: it is the verbal adjective of ''appiattare'' “to hide”, as when Dante's simoniac popes lie “flattened through the cleft of the rock” (''per la fessura della pietra piatti'').^(GDLI)^(DEI|2898)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) It survives in ''di soppiatto'' “stealthily”.^(DEI|2898)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}