Panino

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of Italian bread roll that is filled with an assortment of ingredients, typically served warm after being pressed or toasted
2. An enclosed sandwich originating from Italy that consists of a variety of fillings between a bread roll, often heated for added flavor
3. A sandwich made by placing various fillings inside a special Italian bread roll, often heated and pressed

Etymology: Italian "panino" is a diminutive of "pane," the everyday word for bread, so the name simply means "little bread." The "-ino" ending is the Italian diminutive suffix, which turns a noun into something small or dear. Latin "panis" (bread) gave Italian "pane," and the Latin suffix "-inus" passed into Italian as "-ino," producing a word for a small loaf that later came to mean a small sandwich. English borrowed the word directly from Italian, keeping its original form and meaning. The diminutive sense survives in the English usage too: a panino is a small, compact item rather than a full loaf, usually pressed or toasted and stuffed with fillings.