paesano

American  

[pahy-zon-oh] / paɪˈzɒnˌoʊ /

Also paesan

noun

paesani, plural paesanos plural

1. a person who shares one’s place of origin; a compatriot, especially among Italians or people of Italian descent.

2. a person associated with the Italian mafia; mafioso.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• paesani
  plural
• paesanos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of paesano

First recorded in 1930–35; from Italian; literally, “countryman, fellow countryman,” from Late Latin adjective and noun pāgēnsis “pertaining to the country or a country district; an inhabitant of the country”; see also pagan ( def. ), peasant ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

paesano paesanos

Out in the hill villages, living in bleak cottages and scratching a bare living from the thin soil of the peninsula, the poverty-stricken paesano was the man of the hour.

From Time Magazine Archive

If the man is in the city some "landsmann," some "paesano" has seen him, and knows where he is to be found.

From Broken Homes A Study of Family Desertion and its Social Treatment by Colcord, Joanna C.

For the first time since Italy declared war on the U.S. came a firsthand account last week of how recent months have affected Mussolini and the humble paesanos he exhorted to "live like lions."

From Time Magazine Archive