panini

¹ American  

[puh-nee-nee] / pəˈni ni /

Sometimes panino

noun

plural

panini, paninis

1. a usually pressed and grilled sandwich of Italian bread filled with meat, cheese, vegetables, etc.

---

Panini ² American  

[pah-nee-nee, pah-nee-nee] / ˈpɑ ni ni, pɑˈni ni /

noun

1. flourished c400 b.c., Indian grammarian of Sanskrit.

2. Pannini, Giovanni Paolo.

---

panini British  

/ pæˈniːnɪ /

noun

1. a type of Italian bread, usually served grilled with a variety of fillings

---

Etymology

Origin of panini

First recorded in 1955–60; from Italian panini, plural of panino “a roll, sandwich,” diminutive of pane “bread,” from Latin pān- (stem of pānis ) “bread” + -ini, plural of diminutive suffix -ino, from Latin -īnus adjective suffix meaning “of or pertaining to, made of”; -ine ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

Through the truck’s windows, a panini shop and a microblading clinic roll by.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 12, 2025

"We then made a kind of quesadilla or panini where the bismuth is the cheesy filling and the tortillas are the atomically flat surfaces," said Wu.

From Science Daily • May 21, 2024

Fun tip: If you’re looking at me, like, “Girl, ain’t no way I’m flipping that quesadilla,” if you have a waffle maker or panini press, I implore you to use it here.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 10, 2023

The demands never stop, just like a panini keeps oozing out the side, Beck added.

From Washington Post • Mar. 22, 2023

“Anyway, this guy HudsonLikeRiver has a tweet from 11:44 in the morning today, and it says craving a panini lol.”

From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera