English
cannolo
Cannolo comes from Italian cannolo ‘little tube’, from Latin canna ‘a reed, cane’, and ultimately from Akkadian qanûm.
- Akkadianc. 2500–100 BCEqanûm1transliteratedcuneiform qanûm, a transliteration; the original signs are in Wiktionary‘reed’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκᾰ́ννᾰ1‘reed’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcanna1‘a reed, cane’
- Italianc. 1300–presentcanna2‘cane, tube’
- Italianc. 1300–presentcannolo3‘little tube’
- Englishtodaycannolo3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Italian canna
- 2 Wiktionary, Italian cannolo
- 3 Wiktionary, English cannolo
Lineage
- Akkadianc. 2500–100 BCEqanûmWiktionary, Italian cannatransliteratedcuneiform qanûm, a transliteration; the original signs are in Wiktionary‘reed’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκᾰ́ννᾰWiktionary, Italian canna‘reed’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcannaWiktionary, Italian canna‘a reed, cane’
- Italianc. 1300–presentcannaWiktionary, Italian cannolo‘cane, tube’
- Italianc. 1300–presentcannoloWiktionary, English cannolo‘little tube’
- EnglishtodaycannoloWiktionary, English cannolo
Linked words
through Akkadian 𒂵𒉡𒌑𒌝 ‘reed’
canon, canister, kanon, 14 more
through Latin canna ‘a reed, cane’
canada, channel, canal, cane, kennel, cannula, 8 more
through Italian canna ‘cane, tube’
Today it means
noun A tube of fried pastry filled with ricotta.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “cannolo”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Italian canna, Italian cannolo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Akkadian qanûm / cannolo