Etymograph

English

Pinocchio

Pinocchio may come from Italian Pinocchio ‘pine nut’.

  1. Italianc. 1300–presentPinocchio‘pine nut’uncertain
  2. Englishtodaysame form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Italianc. 1300–presentPinocchio‘pine nut’uncertain
  2. Englishtodaysame form

The story

Borrowed from Italian Pinocchio, possibly from the rare Tuscan form pinocchio (‘pine nut’) or constructed from pino (‘pine tree, pine wood’), also similar to Pino, diminutive of Giuseppe (‘Joseph’), as is Geppetto (the maker of Pinocchio).

Linked words

through Latin pīnus ‘pine tree, fir tree’

pine, pinot, piñata, 8 more

Today it means

name The fictional boy made from wood whose nose gets longer with each lie he tells, protagonist of the story The Adventures of Pinocchio (1881–1883) by Carlo Collodi.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Italian Pinocchio / Pinocchio

Shirt and support for this word