biscotto Italian · revision 39241

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1279, Meo de' Tolomei|origins=la bis, la coquō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /bisˈkɔt.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''biscotto''' ''m'' (plural biscotti)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also wrote [[m|roa-oit|biscoto]], [[m|roa-oit|bescoto]] and [[m|roa-oit|biscuotto]].^(TLIO) The northern dialects have forms such as Milanese [[m|lmo|bescòtt]] and Mantuan [[m|lmo|biscòt]].^(LEI|6, 59)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-vul|*biscoctus|t=twice-cooked]], made of [[m|la|bis|t=twice]] and [[m|la|coctus|t=cooked]], the past participle of [[m|la|coquō|t=to cook]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(LEI|6, 59) The word is not found as a noun in Medieval Latin before the 12th century; the early records, in Latin, Anglo-Norman, Portuguese and Italian, all use it as an adjective with “bread”, “brick” or “fig”, so the LEI supposes the adjective already in Vulgar Latin.^(LEI|6, 59)^(DELI 1999) The same word is [[fr|biscuit]], [[oc|bescoch]], [[es|bizcocho]] and [[pt|biscouto]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ Meyer-Lübke thought the French and Spanish words came from Italy, since their ⟨-i-⟩ points there, but the LEI doubts this, because the vowels of French ⟨cuit⟩ and Spanish ⟨cocho⟩ developed normally;^(REW 1935)^(LEI|6, 59) Italian influence is clear only in Middle French [[m|frm|biscot]] and Middle High German [[m|gmh|piscot]].^(REW 1935)^(LEI|6, 59)

+

+ Latin [[m|la|bis]] goes back to Proto-Italic ⟨*dwis⟩ and Proto-Indo-European [[m|ine-pro|*dwís|t=twice]], like [[grc|δίς|tr=dís]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The verb [[m|la|coquō]] comes from [[ine-pro|*pekʷ-|t=to cook]], with the first consonant assimilated to the second.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is the adjective in ''matton biscotto'', a brick fired twice, in the Sienese poet Meo de' Tolomei, before 1279.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO) Medieval Latin documents had the word earlier, in ''sacchos de bisceto'' at Bologna in 1219 and in a Venetian statute of 1255.^(DELI 1999)^(Prati 1951|149) ''Pane biscotto'', bread baked twice so that it would keep, is recorded in Domenico Cavalca before 1342.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Twice-baked bread was the store food of ships and armies, and ''biscotto'' alone soon came to mean that bread.^(TLIO)^(GDLI)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Giovanni Villani tells of a duke besieged in his palace with little but ''biscotto'' and vinegar.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) On board ship the word was later replaced by [[galletta]].^(Prati 1951|149) The adjective lived on for anything overcooked or dried out: Pulci uses it for “overdone”.^(LEI|6, 59)^(GDLI)

+

+ The sense “small sweet baked in the oven” is recorded before 1566, in Anton Francesco Grazzini, and the potter's ''biscotto'', fired clay not yet glazed, in 1768.^(DELI 1999) In sports journalism ''fare il biscotto'' is to fix the result of a match between two teams, usually to the harm of a third;^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) Zingarelli connects it with the doping of racehorses with a drugged biscuit.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ The Italian word passed into German, where ''Biskotte'' is recorded from 1434 and survives in Austria, and into French as ''biscotte'' (1807), a slice of rusk.^(DIFIT) Byzantine Greek borrowed it, and English took the plural ''biscotti'' in the 1990s for long, crisp almond biscuits.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1219 – Medieval Latin ''sacchos de bisceto'' is recorded at Bologna.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1255 – A Venetian statute has Medieval Latin ''biscotus''.^(Prati 1951|149)

+ * Before 1279 – Meo de' Tolomei writes ''matton biscotto''.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses ''pane biscotto'' and ''biscotto'' for twice-baked bread.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1434 – German ''pischotto'' is recorded, the ancestor of Austrian ''Biskotte''.^(DIFIT)

+ * Before 1566 – Anton Francesco Grazzini uses ''biscotto'' for a sweet biscuit.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1768 – Giovanni Targioni Tozzetti uses the word for unglazed fired clay.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1807 – French ''biscotte'' is first recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1990s – English borrows ''biscotti''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|biscuit]], [[m|en|cookie]]: a small, crisp sweet made of flour, sugar and fat, baked in the oven: ''Inzuppava i biscotti nel latte.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Twice-baked bread that keeps for a long time, once the store food of sailors and soldiers.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(ceramics)'' [[m|en|bisque]]: porcelain or earthenware fired once and left unglazed.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(sport, slang)'' A tacit agreement between two teams to reach a result that suits both, at the expense of others: ''fare il biscotto''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(regional)'' A flick on someone's face given in fun.^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(uncommon)'' Baked twice: ''pane biscotto''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[biscottino]]

+ * [[biscottare]]

+ * [[biscottato]]

+ * [[biscotteria]]

+ * [[biscottiera]]

+ * [[biscottificio]]

+ * [[biscottiere]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cuocere]]

+ * [[cotto]]

+ * [[fr|biscuit]]

+ * [[la|bis]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The proverb ''mettersi in mare senza biscotto'', “to put to sea without biscuit”, means starting an undertaking without the means to carry it through.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}