pizza Italian · revision 39014

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|attested=1535, B. Di Falco}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpit.t͡sa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pizza''' ''f'' (plural pizze)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The word is first recorded in Medieval Latin, as [[der|la-med|pizza|t=flat cake]] at Gaeta in 997 and at Penne in the Abruzzi in 1195.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Further Medieval Latin records come from central and southern Italy: Sulmona (1201, “pizzas of bread”), the papal curia (1307), L'Aquila and Celano (14th century) and Pesaro (1531).^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|2961) It reached the standard language from the dialects, above all Neapolitan.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011) Its origin is disputed;^(Nocentini 2010) Nocentini lists four lines of explanation, each with strong arguments and none that accounts for every variant and its distribution.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ DELI regards the question as settled by Princi Braccini (1979), who derives the word from the Germanic of Italy, [[lng|*pizzo]] (Lombardic or Gothic), the equivalent of [[goh|bizzo]] or [[m|goh|pizzo|t=bite, morsel; piece of bread; flat cake]] (modern [[de|Bissen]]), a noun from [[m|goh|bīzan|t=to bite]].^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) The meaning would have moved from “bite” to “morsel” to “piece of bread” and then to “flat cake”, as [[la|buccella|t=small mouthful; small loaf]], which glosses render with the Old High German word, did.^(DELI 1999) The form [[fur|petta]] of the Friulian area would continue [[got|*bita]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Treccani and Wiktionary also mention this explanation.^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Nocentini and Devoto–Oli prefer a Romance origin: a shortened past participle of [[la-vul|*pinsiō|alt=*pi(n)siāre|t=to pound, crush by hand]] (the verb behind [[pigiare]]), through a variant with a strengthened consonant, made feminine by agreement with [[la|placenta|t=flat cake]] in a phrase meaning “crushed cake”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Sabatini–Coletti calls this probable, and Gabrielli derives the word more simply from [[m|la|pīnsō|t=to crush]].^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020) The variants [[pinza]] of Lazio and [[vec|pinsa]] of the upper Adriatic coast fit this family.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ A third line looks to the Mediterranean: the Calabrian and Salentine [[m|scn|pitta]] continue the flat bread of the Balkans and the Near East, [[el|πίτα|tr=píta]], ultimately [[arc|pittā]], recorded from the 2nd century AD.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) Nocentini accepts this source for the southern form only, and Wiktionary compares Byzantine [[m|gkm|πίτα|tr=píta]] (12th century).^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) DEI and the GDLI suggest a Latin [[m|la|picea|t=of pitch]] “(cake)” as a calque of [[grc|πίττα|tr=pítta|t=pitch]].^(DEI|2961)^(GDLI) The old derivation from [[pizzo|t=point]], which Devoto and Prati gave, runs up against the early meaning “flat cake”.^(Devoto 1968)^(Prati 1951)^(DEI|2961)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ From Italian the word passed into most European languages and beyond: [[fr|pizza]] is recorded from 1888, [[de|Pizza]] from 1879 and [[m|en|pizza]] from 1825.^(DIFIT)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first Italian record is from 1535, when B. Di Falco notes that a ''focaccia'' is called ''pizza'' in Neapolitan.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) GRADIT and DIFIT date the word to 1565, and DEI cites Annibal Caro in the 16th century.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DIFIT)^(DEI|2961)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Until the 19th century ''pizza'' was a general name for flat cakes of bread, sweet or savoury: Ramusio describes cakes of maize eaten in place of bread, and Garzoni lists three ''pizze'' of white bread.^(GDLI) Caro's translation of Longus uses it for an egg-shaped cheese, and Tommaseo (1871) records it as the Umbrian name for an oiled flat bread.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The Neapolitan dish made the word famous.^(DELI 1999) The ''pizzaiolo'' who makes it is described in 1858, and in 1884 Matilde Serao told how a Neapolitan opened a ''pizzeria'' in Rome that soon failed.^(DELI 1999) In 1900 De Cesare listed pizzas among the plain foods that King Ferdinand II loved, and in 1905 Panzini defined the dish for readers outside Naples.^(DELI 1999) In 1961 Peruzzi noted that ''pizza'' and ''pizzeria'' had recently spread through Italy and abroad.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Migliorini recorded two figurative senses in 1942: in Rome, a bore (''che pizza!''), and in cinema slang, a reel of film in its flat round can.^(DELI 1999) In Roman speech a ''pizza'' is also a slap in the face.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 997 – Medieval Latin ''pizza'' “flat cake” is recorded at Gaeta.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1195 – It is recorded at Penne in the Abruzzi.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1535 – B. Di Falco notes that a ''focaccia'' is called ''pizza'' in Neapolitan.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * 1825 – English ''pizza'' is first recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1858 – ''Pizzaiolo'' “pizza maker” is recorded in Naples.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1879 – German ''Pizza'' is first recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1884 – Matilde Serao writes of a ''pizzeria'' opened in Rome.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1888 – French ''pizza'' is first recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1942 – Migliorini records the senses “bore” and “film reel”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(cooking)'' [[m|en|pizza]]: a round flat bread of leavened dough topped with tomato, mozzarella or other ingredients and baked in a hot oven, a Neapolitan speciality: ''Il sabato sera ordiniamo sempre due pizze.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A [[focaccia]] or flat cake of wheat or other flour, sweet or savoury, made in many regional varieties: ''la pizza di Pasqua''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative, colloquial)'' A very boring person or thing, a [[m|en|bore]]: ''Quella conferenza è stata una pizza!''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(cinema)'' The flat round can holding a film reel, and the reel itself.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(regional, Rome)'' A [[schiaffo|alt=slap]] in the face.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pizzaiolo]]

+ * [[pizzeria]]

+ * [[pizzaiola]]

+ * [[pizzetta]]

+ * [[pizzata]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[focaccia]]

+ * [[pinza]]

+ * [[pigiare]]

+ * [[en|pizza]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common kinds include the ''pizza margherita'', the ''pizza marinara'' and the ''pizza capricciosa'';^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) ''pizza al taglio'' is sold by weight in rectangular or triangular pieces.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) In Calabrian, Salentine and Sicilian dialect ''pizza'' also means the penis, a word that Cortelazzo and Marcato derive from a base meaning “point”.^(Cortelazzo & Marcato 1998)^(DEI|2961) Old Italian had another ''pizza'' meaning “itch”, from the verb ''pizzare''.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}