The Oxford English Dictionary has no entry for limoncello (or
lemoncello) , which is a lemon-flavoured Italian liqueur.

The newsletter says they are putting together an entry but the
earliest appearance they have (in English usage, I stress - I'm sure
the Italians have used the term for decades) is 1993.

I am going to look at some of my more chatty books on Italian food to
see if something turns up, but does anybody else know of an earlier
use?

"Richard Wright" > wrote in message
...
> The Oxford English Dictionary has no entry for limoncello (or
> lemoncello) , which is a lemon-flavoured Italian liqueur.
>
> The newsletter says they are putting together an entry but the
> earliest appearance they have (in English usage, I stress - I'm sure
> the Italians have used the term for decades) is 1993.
>
> I am going to look at some of my more chatty books on Italian food to
> see if something turns up, but does anybody else know of an earlier
> use?

I'm of the impression that limoncello is modern, for asa young naval officer
"on the beach" in Southern Italy, especially the Naples area and nearby
Amalfi coast, frequently, 1962-1965, I never recall seeing or hearing of
it...

Of course, liqueurs/appertifs come and go. On my last trip, Punt y Mes was
no longer stocked in small bars and Galliano/Strega had become almost
equally invisible, disappeared from both Italian and US barbacks (as the
Harvey Wallbanger has departed US bar menus, gone along with the memories of
"Sidecars" in chilled stemware).

The most popular anisette, Sambuca, now comes in a "black" version, unheard
of only a few decades ago. How can you drink it "con mosca", unable to see
the flies.

In article >,
Richard Wright > wrote:

>The Oxford English Dictionary has no entry for limoncello (or
>lemoncello) , which is a lemon-flavoured Italian liqueur.

In Florio's 1611 English/Italian dictionary, limencello and lemoncello
are defined to be "a little lemmon". So beware sobriety in your
search.

-- greg

Or it could be lemoncellus, come to think of it. The form in the text
is lemoncellorum, genitive plural.

Andrew

Andrew Dalby a écrit :
> Greg Lindahl wrote:
>> In article >,
>> Richard Wright > wrote:
>>
>>> The Oxford English Dictionary has no entry for limoncello (or
>>> lemoncello) , which is a lemon-flavoured Italian liqueur.
>> In Florio's 1611 English/Italian dictionary, limencello and lemoncello
>> are defined to be "a little lemmon". So beware sobriety in your
>> search.
>>
>> -- greg
>
> In support of Greg, I have noted 'lemoncellum' in Latin, evidently
> meaning some kind of a lemon, in the printed edition of /Tacuini
> Sanitatis/ (Strasbourg, 1531). That's my oldest. No help to the OED, of
> course, except as helping to confirm the origin of the word.
>
> Andrew
>
> http://perso.wanadoo.fr/dalby/
>
Please note that the OP looks for uses of lemoncello or limoncello in
English language, not in italian or latin.

--
Greetings, Salutations,
Guiraud Belissen, Chteau du Ciel, Drachenwald,
Chris CII, Rennes, France

Christophe Bachmann wrote:
> Andrew Dalby a écrit :No help to the OED, of
> > course, except as helping to confirm the origin of the word.
> >
> > Andrew
> >
> > http://perso.wanadoo.fr/dalby/
> >
> Please note that the OP looks for uses of lemoncello or limoncello in
> English language, not in italian or latin.
>
I don't know what the OP is. The question was about the OED. I know
what the OED does (I have it), so I know that its editors (1) look for
uses of words in English and (2) provide etymologies. Hence my
sentence, which perhaps you didn't read --

>> No help to the OED, of
>> course, except as helping to confirm the origin of the word.

Hope that makes it clear!

Andrew

Andrew Dalby a écrit :
> Christophe Bachmann wrote:
>> Andrew Dalby a écrit :No help to the OED, of
>>> course, except as helping to confirm the origin of the word.
>>>
>>> Andrew
>>>
>>> http://perso.wanadoo.fr/dalby/
>>>
>> Please note that the OP looks for uses of lemoncello or limoncello in
>> English language, not in italian or latin.
>>
> I don't know what the OP is. The question was about the OED. I know
> what the OED does (I have it), so I know that its editors (1) look for
> uses of words in English and (2) provide etymologies. Hence my
> sentence, which perhaps you didn't read --
>
>>> No help to the OED, of
>>> course, except as helping to confirm the origin of the word.
>
> Hope that makes it clear!
>
> Andrew
>
Sorry, my bad. The OP is in this context the Original Poster
and I indeed didn't read with enough attention, I just saw that answers
were given in italian and latin.
--
Greetings, Salutations,
Guiraud Belissen, Chteau du Ciel, Drachenwald,
Chris CII, Rennes, France

On Thu, 16 Mar 2006 19:56:36 GMT, "TOliver" >
wrote:

>
>"Richard Wright" > wrote in message
.. .
>> The Oxford English Dictionary has no entry for limoncello (or
>> lemoncello) , which is a lemon-flavoured Italian liqueur.
>>
>> The newsletter says they are putting together an entry but the
>> earliest appearance they have (in English usage, I stress - I'm sure
>> the Italians have used the term for decades) is 1993.
>>
>> I am going to look at some of my more chatty books on Italian food to
>> see if something turns up, but does anybody else know of an earlier
>> use?
>
>I'm of the impression that limoncello is modern, for asa young naval officer
>"on the beach" in Southern Italy, especially the Naples area and nearby
>Amalfi coast, frequently, 1962-1965, I never recall seeing or hearing of
>it...
>
>Of course, liqueurs/appertifs come and go. On my last trip, Punt y Mes was
>no longer stocked in small bars and Galliano/Strega had become almost
>equally invisible, disappeared from both Italian and US barbacks (as the
>Harvey Wallbanger has departed US bar menus, gone along with the memories of
>"Sidecars" in chilled stemware).
>
>The most popular anisette, Sambuca, now comes in a "black" version, unheard
>of only a few decades ago. How can you drink it "con mosca", unable to see
>the flies.
>

It looks as if you are right - 1988 may be the first use in Italy.

>http://www.limoncello.com/en/history.html

>The "Limoncello di Capri" and the "Cooperativa Solagri".
>
>At the start of the last century, Vincenza Canale, owner of a hotel on the island of Capri, was the first to offer limoncello, derived from the Caprian word 'limonillo', to her guests. Her descendants formed the Limoncello di Capri S.r.L. in 1988, the first company to patent and use the word 'Limoncello'.

In article >,
Christophe Bachmann > wrote:

>Please note that the OP looks for uses of lemoncello or limoncello in
>English language, not in italian or latin.

Florio's Italian-to-English dictionary was published in England. Not
as clear cut as a real English reference, but still relevant to the
query.

-- greg

On Sun, 19 Mar 2006 15:47:48 -0500, Andrew Dalby >
wrote:

>
> Christophe Bachmann wrote:
>> Andrew Dalby a écrit :No help to the OED, of
>> > course, except as helping to confirm the origin of the word.
>> >
>> > Andrew
>> >
>> > http://perso.wanadoo.fr/dalby/
>> >
>> Please note that the OP looks for uses of lemoncello or limoncello in
>> English language, not in italian or latin.
>>
> I don't know what the OP is. The question was about the OED. I know
> what the OED does (I have it), so I know that its editors (1) look for
> uses of words in English and (2) provide etymologies.

so is this common knowledge

> Hence my
> sentence, which perhaps you didn't read --
>
>>> No help to the OED, of
>>> course, except as helping to confirm the origin of the word.
>
> Hope that makes it clear!
>
> Andrew
>