zucchini

Where does the word "zucchini" come from? It comes from Italian zucchino, and was adopted directly into English (1920s).

Zucchini’s story begins in Italian: zucchino meant “a small squash.” A diminutive of zucca (pumpkin, gourd), a small summer squash. It reached English by 1920s as zucchini. Italian 'little squash'; British English calls it 'courgette', from French. Today, zucchini means a green summer squash, also called courgette.

1. Stage 1 · Italian · 1800s zucchino "a small squash", a diminutive of zucca (pumpkin, gourd), a small summer squash.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1920s zucchini "a green summer squash", Italian 'little squash'; British English calls it 'courgette', from French.