meaning.today

Neapolitan

noun, adjective

In short

A Neapolitan is a person from Naples, Italy. As an adjective, Neapolitan means associated with that city. In Neapolitan ice cream, it names a layered dessert typically combining chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.

What does Neapolitan mean?

A Neapolitan is someone from Naples. The adjective can describe people, food or other things associated with the city. It should not be reduced to the name of a dessert.

Neapolitan ice cream

The familiar version has separate layers of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream. Cambridge describes those flavors as typical, not as the only possible combination.

Merriam-Webster gives a broader layered-dessert definition. This is a reason to avoid claiming that every product or historical version must have exactly the same three layers.

Why is it called Neapolitan?

The word connects to Naples through its older name, Neapolis, meaning new city. That explains the place-related word. A detailed account of who first made or marketed a particular ice cream needs separate historical evidence.

Does Neapolitan only mean ice cream?

No. A Neapolitan person, neighborhood or dish uses the ordinary place-related meaning. The ice-cream name is a particular expression.

A slice of ice cream with three neat horizontal layers in green, cream and blush rests on a small plate, with a simple gold spoon beside it.

Where does it come from?

Neapolitan preserves a form of the older name Neapolis through Latin and ultimately Greek. The city name means new city. The later ice-cream use has a separate history; the place-name alone does not prove that the familiar three-flavor combination was invented in Naples.

How to use it in a sentence

“The Neapolitan musician performed at the festival.”

“We shared a slice of Neapolitan ice cream.”

“The menu included several Neapolitan dishes.”

Sources and updates

Definitions and examples are written in our own words from the sources above. Published .