panini
noun
a usually pressed and grilled sandwich of Italian bread filled with meat, cheese, vegetables, etc.
panini
1 American
[puh-nee-nee]
/ pəˈni ni /
Sometimes
panino
noun
-
panini,
plural
-
paninis
plural
Panini
2
American
[pah-nee-nee, pah-nee-nee]
/ ˈpɑ ni ni, pɑˈni ni /
panini
British
/ pæˈniːnɪ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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”; see -ine 1 ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He also told us how to shape the roll so it didn’t become a panini.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
If a thrift-store panini press happens to be among the chosen, consider it your kitchen’s version of a minor miracle.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 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
The space is production bakery in the back, coffee shop in the front, with a full case of sweet and savory hand pies, soups, biscuits, panini, mini pies and more.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 3, 2024
“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
Panini America alleged in a 2023 lawsuit that Fanatics used its “monopoly power” to jeopardize its trading card business.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 22, 2026
Players past and present meanwhile feature in the first Panini darts sticker album launched this year.
From Barron's ● Dec. 30, 2025
"It's not just football - there is a Panini collection of darts cards out now that I have just got my hands on too, so I am going to unpack them on my YouTube channel."
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2024
That's because Panini still holds the rights for some top European teams including England, Spain, Germany and current Euros champs Italy.
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2024
Did Namrata seriously just pull a fictional camp friend out of her ass and name him Hudson Panini?
From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
Essentially a massive skillet, a good griddle can just as easily turn out pancakes for breakfast, paninis for lunch, or, yes, chicken thighs for dinner.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Stir-fries, savory oats, rice bowls, flatbreads, paninis, pasta—whatever suits your style.
From Salon ● Dec. 28, 2025
Ottimo had paninis and family dishes that served four, like tomato-braised and roasted whole chicken.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 9, 2023
Farther down Tsentralna, at the Flower Cafe — which sells plants and bouquets as well as food — proprietress Tetiana Lytvynenko, 33, was serving up paninis and coffee.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2022
He could have moved on from bread bowls to paninis.
From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
