Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A shallow ornamental vessel usually on a pedestal.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A shallow or saucer-shaped vessel mounted on a foot.
  • noun A saucer-shaped receptacle or bowl, as the bowl-part of the vessel defined above, or a larger group containing several different bowls.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun An ornamental cup or vase with a large, flat, shallow bowl, resting on a pedestal and often having handles.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A shallow saucer-like dish, either mounted on a stem and foot or on a foot alone.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Italian, cup, tazza, from Arabic ṭašt, basin; see demitasse.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Italian tazza.

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Examples

Comments

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  • "Cream and finely powdered sugar filled in the empty spaces on the table. Desserts were to be served in elegant, usually footed glass or china bowls or compotes, called tazzas in 1851, which were to line the center of the table. These were to be flanked on the sides by lower dishes and plates of dried fruits, nuts, candies, and chocolates, all ornately garnished with flowers, leaves, and vines."

    —Susan Williams, Savory Suppers and Fashionable Feasts: Dining in Victorian America (New York: Pantheon Books, 1985), 177

    May 4, 2010

  • Alphonse was a pampered reptile,

    A model of serpentine style.

    He basked in a tazza

    On a sunny piazza

    While folks fed him bugs all the while.

    April 23, 2016