Where does “spaghetti” come from?
Spaghetti derives from Italian spaghetti, the plural of spaghetto, a diminutive formed with Italian -etto from Latin spacus, ultimately traceable through Latin -ittus and Proto-Italic -tos to Proto-Indo-European -tós.
spaghetti (English): A type of pasta made in the shape of long thin...
Definitions
- A type of pasta made in the shape of long thin...
Ancestry of “spaghetti”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italian | spaghetti | plural of spaghetto; a dish of spaghetti; fine... |
| 2 | Italian | spaghetto | strand of spaghetti; a dish of spaghetti; fright |
| 3 | Italian | -etto | Alterative suffix used to form melioratives,... |
| 4 | English | -et | Used to form diminutives, loosely construed |
| 5 | Middle English | -et | Forms diminutive nouns from nouns; in some words,... |
| 6 | Old French | -et | Used to form a diminutive, masculine noun;... |
| 7 | Latin | -ātus | ed |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | -ātos | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₂tos | Forms adjectives from nouns, indicating the possession of a thing or a quality |