pataffio

Italian

Etymology

From Late Latin epitaphium (“eulogy”), from Ancient Greek ἐπιτάφιος (epitáphios, “funereal”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paˈtaf.fjo/
• Rhymes: -affjo
• Hyphenation: pa‧tàf‧fio

Noun

pataffio m (plural pataffi)

1. (obsolete, now chiefly humorous) Synonym of epitaffio (“epitaph”)
   • 1350s, anonymous author, “Prologo e primo capitolo [Preface and first chapter]”, in Cronica [Chronicle]‎^[1] (overall work in Old Italian); republished as Giuseppe Porta, editor, Anonimo romano - Cronica, Adelphi, 1979, →ISBN:

     ’Nanti lo tiempo de questo non era lettera. […] Donne le memorie se facevano con scoiture in sassi e pataffii

     Before his time there were no letters. […] thus memoirs were made through incisions on rocks, and epitaphs