What does panettoni mean?
Panettoni is the plural of panettone, the traditional Italian sweet bread commonly eaten during the Christmas and New Year season. The breads are tall and dome-shaped, with a soft, enriched crumb that often contains raisins, candied fruit, or pieces of candied chocolate. Some varieties are flavoured with citrus, vanilla, coffee, or cocoa, and they may be dusted with icing sugar after baking. In English, panettone is normally used for both an individual bread and the food as a category, while panettoni is especially useful when several individual loaves or cakes are being discussed. The word is now familiar beyond Italy wherever Christmas markets, bakeries, cafés, and supermarkets feature seasonal holiday foods. Its associations are warm and celebratory rather than strictly regional, although it remains more characteristic of Italian and Italian-influenced cuisine than of ordinary everyday bread.
noun (plural)The plural of panettone, a traditional Italian sweet bread made with enriched dough, often containing dried or candied fruit and sometimes flavoured with citrus or chocolate.
- Several individual sweet breads of the Italian panettone type.
"The bakery was filled with the scent of cinnamon, roasted almonds, and freshly baked chocolate panettoni."
"We shared panettoni with our neighbours after Christmas dinner."
"The café sells small panettoni with hot chocolate during the winter season."
Panettoni is the standard Italian-style plural of panettone; panettoni is also accepted in English.
"They bought two panettoni from the bakery."
Christmas in Italy would feel incomplete without panettoni: tall, enriched sweet breads traditionally filled with fruit, candied chocolate, and sometimes zesty orange flavour.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does panettoni come from?
Panettoni is the Italian plural of panettone, itself formed from panetto, a diminutive of pane, and an augmentative suffix meaning “large.” Pane ultimately derives from Latin panis, “bread,” the same source of cognates such as English pan, pancake, and pantry. The form panettoni follows the regular Italian plural ending -i.
Related word forms
How panettoni is actually used
The word retains an Italian plural form. English normally uses singular panettone for one bread or for the food as a general category, while panettoni is natural when several individual breads are meant. Panettoni is also an established alternative plural.
Easily confused with panettoni
Pandolce is a broader category of Italian sweet bread, whereas panettone is a specific tall, enriched bread traditionally associated with Christmas and New Year.
Panettone is the standard singular form and can also refer to the sweet bread as a type, while panettoni normally refers to several individual breads.