Sunday Rest: zucchetto. Word Not To Use Today.

You'll probably have heard of zucchini, the small vegetable marrows that we in Britain usually call courgettes.

Well, as you'd expect, zucchetto is basically the same word as zucchini, and they both come from the Italian zucca, which means gourd.

So what does zuccetto mean?

I'll give you a clue. It's a badge of rank, and they come in black, violet, red and white, with white the highest.

(It means little gourd, remember.)

Got it, yet?

No?

Well, it's the skull cap worm by an official in the Roman Catholic church (white for the pope, red for a cardinal, purple for a bishop, and black for a priest under that rank).

So, why not use the word zucchetto?

Well, how could anyone use it without sniggering once he or she knows the derivation?

Word Not To Use Today: zucchetto. This word comes from the Latin cucutia, which means gourd.