Etymologically
← History of ristorante

ristorante Italian · revision 38489

21 Oct 2026, 21:23 by bogdan “it75n b07: Italian entries” current version

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing, calque|attested=1798, Giovanni Battista Casti|origins=la restaurō}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * /ris.toˈran.te/^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''ristorante''' ''m'' (plural ristoranti)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[bor|fr|restaurant]], the present participle of [[m|fr|restaurer|t=to restore]] used as a noun, given the form of the Italian participle of [[ristorare]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Zingarelli, Gabrielli, the GDLI and Devoto call it a calque on the French word, and Wiktionary describes it as the noun use of the Italian participle.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(GDLI)^(Devoto 1968)^(Wiktionary) Both verbs go back to [[la|restaurō|t=to renew, repair]], whose Italian outcome had narrowed to “to give back strength, to feed”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)
+
+ The French name belonged to the first such establishment, opened in Paris in 1765, which served broths, poultry and grapes but not the stews of the ordinary eating house.^(Prati 1951)^(DEI|3265) The French form itself was also used in Italy in the 19th century, and railway stations displayed [[ristoratore]], from [[fr|restaurateur]].^(Prati 1951)^(DEI|3265)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ GRADIT, Zingarelli and DIFIT date the word to 1798, in the letters of Giovanni Battista Casti;^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(DIFIT)^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) DELI, Nocentini and Devoto–Oli give 1877, the dictionary of Fanfani and Arlìa, as the first record of the sense “public place where meals are served”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(DIFIT)^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) As late as 1872 Tommaseo's dictionary knew ''ristorante'' only as a participle and as a noun for a food or drink that restores strength.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The purist Costantino Arlìa grumbled that the word was the French ''restaurant'' pure and simple, but let it pass: since eating restores the body's strength, the place where one is restored may well be named after it.^(GDLI) Placed after another noun it describes a place that also serves meals: ''vagone ristorante'' “dining car” is recorded in 1936 in Emilio Cecchi, and ''albergo ristorante'' and ''caffè ristorante'' are common.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) A ''ristorante'' is usually ranked above a ''trattoria'' or an ''osteria''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GDLI) The diminutive is ''ristorantino''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)
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+ English borrowed ''ristorante'' in 1925 for an Italian restaurant, and German uses ''Ristorante'' in the same way.^(DIFIT)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1765 – The first ''restaurant'' opens in Paris.^(Prati 1951)^(DEI|3265)
+ * 1798 – Giovanni Battista Casti uses ''ristorante'' in his letters.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DIFIT)
+ * 1872 – Tommaseo still records only “restorative food or drink”.^(DELI 1999)
+ * 1877 – Fanfani and Arlìa record ''ristorante'' “eating house”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)
+ * 1925 – English ''ristorante'' is first recorded.^(DIFIT)
+ * 1936 – Emilio Cecchi writes ''vagone ristorante''.^(DELI 1999)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A [[m|en|restaurant]]: a public establishment where full meals are cooked and served at table: ''Per l'anniversario abbiamo prenotato in un ristorante sul lago.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)
+
+ ===Adjective===
+ # ''(invariable, after a noun)'' Offering a restaurant service: ''carrozza ristorante'', ''albergo ristorante''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[ristorantino]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[ristorare]]
+ * [[ristoratore]]
+ * [[fr|restaurant]]
+
+ ==Usage notes==
+ ''Ristorante'' is also, rarely, the present participle of ''ristorare'' “restoring, reviving”;^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) GRADIT marks this use obsolete.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) Manzoni speaks of the ''coppa ristorante'', the reviving cup that the ancients offered to a man condemned to torture.^(GDLI)
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}