Etymograph

English

pantry

Pantry comes from Middle English panetrie ‘a storehouse or pantry’, from Old French paneterie ‘a storeroom for bread’, and ultimately from Old French panetier.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpānis1named in Wiktionary’s etymology text · steps between not traced
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400panetier2
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400paneterie1‘a storeroom for bread’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500panetrie1‘a storehouse or pantry’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1960pantry1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English pantry
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old French paneterie
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1960, Restaurant cars and multiple-units: “Next to the saloon is the pantry, which includes…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpānisWiktionary, English pantrynamed in Wiktionary’s etymology text · steps between not traced
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400panetierWiktionary, Old French paneterie
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400paneterieWiktionary, English pantry‘a storeroom for bread’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500panetrieWiktionary, English pantry‘a storehouse or pantry’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1960pantryWiktionary, English pantry. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1960, Restaurant cars and multiple-units: “Next to the saloon is the pantry, which includes…”

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Today it means

noun A small room, closet, or cabinet usually located in or near the kitchen, dedicated to shelf-stable food storage or storing kitchenware, like a larder, but smaller.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pantry”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old French paneterie. 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 / Latin pānis / pantry