te

Borrowed from French thé, from Dutch thee, from Hokkien 茶 (tê).


pasta

From Late Latin pasta, from Ancient Greek παστά (pastá).


meli

From Vulgar Latin *melem m or f, from Latin mel n.


pani

Danni oggi lu nostru pani quotidianu.

1905, Reinhold Rost, The Lord's prayer in five hundred languages, page 135:


brodu

Possibly from Proto-West Germanic *broþ (“broth”), from an earlier Proto-Germanic *bruþą (“broth”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- (“to seethe, roil, brew”). Compare Ancient Greek βρῦτος (brûtos). Akin to Italian brodo.


lapa

→ Italian: lapa

From the proclisis of the definite article la + Vulgar Latin *apa, from Latin apis. Compare Sicilian loppiu.


cassata

Possibly from Vulgar Latin *cāseāta, from cāseus (“cheese”), since ricotta is its main ingredient.

cassata siciliana
cassata siciliana#English


cassata siciliana

head

cassata siciliana f (plural cassati siciliani)


arancina

From aranciu (“orange”) + -ina (feminine diminutive suffix).

affix

arancino (baked stuffed rice ball from Sicily)


arancinu

scn-noun

arancinu m (plural arancini or arancina)

→ English: arancino

→ Italian: arancino

From aranciu (“orange”) + -inu (masculine diminutive suffix).


furmaggiu

Borrowed from Old French formage, from Medieval Latin fōrmāticum. Cf. Italian formaggio, Neapolitan furmaggio.


frumaggiu

Alternative form of furmaggiu (“cheese”)


cipudda

From Late Latin cēpulla, diminutive of Latin cēpa.


accia

Borrowed from Old French ache (otherwise from Occitan), ultimately from Latin apium. Compare facci, sacciu, siccia for similiar morphological developments into Sicilian.

Jìi a 'ccattari l'accia.


tuma

→ Italian: tuma

Uncertain. Possibly from the same ancient root of tumeō (“I swell”), which could derive from *tum- (“to swell”) + *-eh₂ (“feminine ending”) (used for feminine result nouns from verbs). Compare Latin tumor, tumidus.
Semantically related to Italian toma, even though the suggested etymology from tomus does not fit the phonology of Sicilian. The other italic counterparts - Neapolitan tuma and Piedmontese tùma both meaning cheese - suggest that the italianized form expunged the local/regional tonic vowel to a more "refined" one, like the French tome.The italianization process in fact typically, at an onomastic level, shaped differently many Sicilian names (like Sicilian Carusu or Gulisanu).

(chiefly) a certain degree of maturing of Sicilian pecorino cheese

A semi-hard Sicilian cheese
(rare) a cheese


suppa

From Late Latin suppa, borrowed from Proto-Germanic *supô, *suppa (“slice of soaked bread; soup”) (whence English soup).


cocu

→ English: Coco, Lo Coco

→ Italian: Coco, Lo Coco

→ Maltese: kok


ogghiu

di jornu nun nni vogghiu e â notti sfardu ogghiu


ovu

Inherited from Vulgar Latin (*)ŏvum, from Classical Latin ōvum n. Compare Italian uovo.
The plural l'ova reflects a continuation of the Latin plural with /-a/,
like many other Sicilian and Old Italian words.
These, in Italian, are all declined as feminine plurals, even though they were masculine in the singular.
Compare Italian le uova.

unni càcanu i palummi e fannu l'ova tunni tunni

Anything shaped like an egg, such as an Easter egg or a chocolate egg.


cucchiara

→ Italian: Cucchiara

Probably from Spanish cuchara, ultimately from Latin cochlearium. Compare Italian cucchiaio.


fìcatu

From Late Latin fīcātum (“liver”), from Latin iecur fīcātum (“fig-stuffed liver”).


'nduja

→ English: nduja

→ Italian: 'nduja

[n̩̪ˈd̪uːjä]

From Old French andoille, ultimately from Latin indūcō (“cover, overlay”).

(originally southern Calabria) nduja (spicy spreadable sausage from Calabria)


triaca

From Latin theriaca, from Ancient Greek θηριακή (thēriakḗ, “antidote”) feminine form of θηριακός (thēriakós, “concerning venomous beasts”), from θήρ (thḗr, “beast”).

der

(typically Sicilian) A pasta dish made with fresh beans and served almost as a soup


jencu

→ English: Genco

→ Italian: Genco

From Latin juvencus, iuvencus (“bullock”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yuh₁n̥ḱós, from *h₂yuh₁en- (“young”). Compare Aromanian giuncu, Romanian junc, Italian giovenco, Spanish and Portuguese juvenco, Galician xuvenco.


anciova

→ Italian: anciova (regional)

[a̠n̠ʲˈt͡ʃɔːva̠]

Possibly from Spanish anchova, anchoa, ultimately from Ligurian anciôa, from Vulgar Latin *apiuva, from Latin aphyē (“small fry”), from Ancient Greek ἀφύη (aphúē). The nasal consonant remains unexplained; however, this is an epenthesis, not originally attested, commonly popping up in many non-Greek borrowings. Compare English anchovy, for more.


muntarozzu

→? Italian: Monti Rossi (misspelled italianized toponym)

From munti (“mountain, hill”) + -arozzu (suffix). Compare for the same desinence Italian bacarozzo.


aparu

→ English: Aparo

→ Italian: Aparo

From Latin apiarius, from apis (“a bee”) + -ārius (“agent of use”, “-keeper”).

suffix

A person who maintains hives and keeps bees, especially for the production of honey.


sarsa

From Vulgar Latin *salsa, noun use of the feminine of Latin salsus (“salted”), past participle of saliō (“I salt”), from sal. Compare Italian salsa.


cassatedda

From cassata + -edda (diminutive suffix). Cognate to Italian cassatella.

cassatella (deep-fried sweet ravioli from Trapani)


furmentu

[fʊɪ̯mˈmiɛ̯n̪.t̪ʊ]

Inherited from Latin frūmentum. Cognate with Italian frumento.


rìganu

→ English: Rigano

→ Italian: Rigano

Apheresis of arrìganu, from Latin orīganum, from Ancient Greek ὀρίγανον (oríganon). Compare Italian origano.

Other herbs with a similar flavor, including other species in the genus Origanum, and Mexican oregano, Lippia graveolens.


cannolu

→ Italian: cannolo, cannolo siciliano

→ Spanish: cannoli

→ English: cannoli

[kɑ̝n̺ˈn̺ɔː.lʊ̠]

From canna (“tube”) + -olu (diminutive suffix).

(pastry) cannoli; a traditional Sicilian specialty pastry consisting of a tube filled with ricotta or similar cream cheese, and other flavorings, typically eaten as a dessert.


pummadoru

scn-noun

pummadoru m (plural pummadori or pummadora)

Univerbation of pumu (“apple, fruit”) + d' (“of”) + oru (“gold”), literally “golden apple”. Possibly owing to the fact that the first varieties of tomatoes arriving in Europe and spreading from Spain to Italy and North Africa were yellow. Compare Italian pomodoro and Neapolitan pummarola.

univerbation

sarsa di pummadoru

pasta cû pummadoru

an Sicilian food typically prepared with pasta, olive oil, fresh tomatoes, basil, and various other fresh ingredients.


cuḍḍura

English: Collura

Italian: Collura

From Ancient Greek κολλύρα (kollúra), further etymology is unknown.
Cognate with Greek κουλούρα (kouloúra) and κουλούρι (kouloúri), English koulouri, Persian کلیچه (količe), Russian кулич (kulič). Compare for more Ancient Greek κόλλῐξ (kóllĭx).


javiu

Ioticized dialectal variant of an earlier gàuju (with the fricatization of the intermediate semiconsonants /ˈjaw.j(i).ʊ/ < /ˈja.vjʊ/), from an older unattested form *ga(u)j(i)u, from Latin gaudium (“joy”). Cognate with Portuguese goivo and Sardinian gaju.

Trìvulu 'n cumuni e menzu javiu.

(Prevalent in Eastern Sicily) joy, delight


àguru

head

àguru (feminine singular àgura, masculine and feminine plural àguri)

àgura (feminine singular)
àguri (feminine masculine plural)

From Vulgar Latin *ag(u)rum, ācrus, from Latin ācer, from Proto-Italic *akris, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ḱrós (“sharp”). Compare ciàguru, nìguru, màguru.


muscu

From Latin mūscus, from Proto-Indo-European *mews-. Cognates include Proto-Germanic *musą, Proto-Slavic *mъxъ.
Compare Italian muschio, Romanian mușchi, Friulian muscli.


astrattu

A concentrated tomato paste made by drying tomato purée in the sun


pisci d'ovu

From pisci + di + ovu, Literally, “fish of egg”, because it was prepared by the lower class who could not afford fish.

(south-eastern Sicily, dish) A dish of beaten eggs, then fried with olive oil. It can be prepared by adding breadcrumbs and grated cheese in the mix, or any other local ingredient.

south-eastern Sicily; dish; south-eastern Sicily; dish


gnòcculu

→ Maltese: nokkla

(chiefly in the plural) gnocchi (type of pasta)


campanaru

→ Maltese: kampnar

From campana (“bell”) + -aru. Compare Spanish campanario, Greek καμπαναριό (kampanarió, “bell tower”) and Italian campanaro, Spanish campanero (“bell ringer”).


pupu cu l'ovu

head

pupu cu l'ovu m (plural pupi cu l'ovu or pupi cu l'ova)

pupi cu l'ovu (plural)
pupi cu l'ova (plural)

A pastry prepared in various shapes with an egg placed in the middle, prepared during Easter.


maccarruni

→ Maltese: mqarrun

desctree

→ Ottoman Turkish: مقارنه (makarna), maccarrúna (makaruna) (in a 1611 transcription text)
Turkish: makarna
→ Armenian: մախառնա (maxaṙna), մաքառնա (makʻaṙna), մաքարնա (makʻarna), մաքառինա (makʻaṙina), մաքարինա (makʻarina), մակարինա (makarina)
→ Bulgarian: макари́на (makarína)
→ Georgian: მაკარინა (maḳarina)
→ Laz: მაკარინა (maǩarina), მაკაინა (maǩaina), მაკაჲინა (maǩayina) — alternative spellings
→ North Levantine Arabic: [script needed] (maqārna, maqarīna) — Damascus
→ Pontic Greek: μακαρίνα (makarína)

Cognate with Italian maccherone, see there for more.

maccarruna di zita

lu caciu nta li maccarruna

a perfect situation (literally, “cheese on macaroni”)

manciari li maccarruna 'n testa a 'n àutru

to be smarter than someone else (literally, “to eat macaroni on top of someone else's head”)

sìmplici comu l'acqua di li maccarruna

(of a person) mischievous (literally, “as clear as the macaroni's water”)

lavatu ntall'acqua di li maccarruna

(of a person) foolish (literally, “washed in the macaroni's water”)


padeḍḍa

From the sonorization of Latin patella, diminutive of patera or patina. Doublet of pateḍḍa.


sartànija

Through an intermediate *sartaniga, from the metathesis of Late Latin sartāgō, sartāginem (“frying pan”). Compare Neapolitan sartàjine, Portuguese sertã, Romanesco sartàina, Sardinian sartaghine, Spanish sartén. Cfr., for the morphology, russànija, vurrànija and filìnija.