Etymology
Paella is a Catalan word which derives from the Old French word paelle for pan which in turn comes from the Latin word patella for pan. Patella is also akin to the modern French poêle, the Italian padella and the Old Spanish padilla.
Valencians use the word paella for all pans, including the specialized shallow pan used for cooking paellas. However, in most other parts of Spain and throughout Latin America, the term paellera is more commonly used for this pan, though both terms are correct, as stated by the Royal Spanish Academy, the body responsible for regulating the Spanish language. Paelleras are traditionally round, shallow and made of polished steel with two handles.
A popular but inaccurate belief in Arabic-speaking countries is that the word paella derives from the Arabic word for leftovers, baqiyah, (Arabic script: بقية) because it was customary among Arab sailors to combine leftovers of previous meals which purportedly led to a paella-like creation in Moorish Spain.
Read more about this topic: Paella
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)