passata Italian · revision 38866

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1348–1353, Giovanni Boccaccio|origins=la passus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /pasˈsa.ta/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''passata''' ''f'' (plural passate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|it|passare|-ata]],^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) or, as Devoto and Treccani describe it, the feminine past participle of the verb used as a noun.^(Devoto 1968)^(Treccani 2011) The verb comes from [[la-vul|*passō|alt=*passāre]], from [[la|passus|t=step]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ Two old senses came from [[fr|passade]]: “a fleeting love affair” and a figure of the riding school, which DEI says also came through English.^(DEI|2792)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Boccaccio (1353), in the sense “the act of passing”;^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) GRADIT dates the word to 1348–1353.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) In the ''Decameron'' a lover ''incominciò a far le passate dinanzi alla casa di costei'', “began to walk to and fro in front of her house”.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 15th and 16th centuries ''passata'' was especially the passage of an army through a country, and the coming of foreign armies into Italy: Guicciardini writes of the time when people most feared ''la passata dei Francesi''.^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Gabrielli 2020) Distillers spoke of brandy ''di prima passata'', that had passed through the still once.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ Fencing took it for a dodge made by ducking (1609), riding for a slow cadenced gait (second half of the 16th century), and card games for the stake set at the start (1804).^(DIFIT) Hunting used it for the passage of game from 1827–1831, and in 1835 Giusti used it for a quick glance or reading; a quick going-over of a surface is recorded in Magalotti before 1712.^(DELI 1999) The kitchen senses are recent: a quick browning in the pan is in the Zingarelli dictionary of 1970, and ''passata'' as tomato purée sold in jars or bottles is in the 2009 supplement of GDLI.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses ''passata'' for “passing”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Second half of the 16th century – It is a term of the riding school.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1609 – It is recorded as a dodge in fencing.^(DIFIT)

+ * Before 1712 – Magalotti uses it for a quick going-over of a surface.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1827–1831 – It is used for the passage of game.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1835 – Giusti uses it for a quick reading.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1970 – The sense “quick browning” is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A quick going-over of a surface: a wipe, a coat of paint or polish, a quick ironing: ''Il tavolo ha bisogno di una passata di cera.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A quick reading, a [[m|en|glance]]: ''Ho dato solo una passata agli appunti prima dell'esame.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(cooking)'' A quick browning in the pan.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(cooking)'' [[m|en|passata]], tomato [[m|en|purée]], usually sold in bottles or jars: ''Per il sugo serve una bottiglia di passata.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(cooking)'' A purée soup of vegetables or pulses.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A brief spell of something: a shower of rain, a fit of anger.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(hunting)'' The passage of game; the place where it passes; a system of nets for catching birds there.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(engineering)'' A pass of a machine tool over the piece being worked.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(sport)'' In fencing, a dodge; in riding, a [[m|en|passade]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[passatina]]

+ * [[passatella]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[passare]]

+ * [[passato]]

+ * [[passaggio]]

+ * [[fr|passade]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Di passata'' means “in passing”, briefly.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020) Most of the everyday senses occur in the phrase ''dare una passata'' (''di vernice'', ''al giornale'', ''in padella'').^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}