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• panini
  panini

  noun

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

  noun

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

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.

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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.

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panini British  

/ pæˈniːnɪ /

noun

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

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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

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

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 12, 2025

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

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

Adam gets a hot dog, Libby gets a panini from a French bakery, and Amelia insists on going to the cheese place.

From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day