Zamboni

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An ice resurfacing machine used to groom skating rinks, especially for professional use.
noun
  1. Alternative letter-case form of Zamboni.

Pronunciation

/zæmˈbəʊ.ni/ /zæmˈboʊ.ni/ En-us-Zamboni.oga /zæmˈboʊni/

Word forms

Zamboni Zambonis

Etymology

From the surname of the inventor, Frank J. Zamboni, and his brand of such machines. Zamboni was originally (and may still be) a trademark of Frank J. Zamboni & Co. Inc.. Its use in the general sense is an example of trademark erosion. The surname itself is of Italian origin, as a northeastern dialectal variant (possibly Venetan) of Giambono, comprised of a reduced form of Gianni (from Giovanni (“John”)) + Bono or buono (“good”). Frank Zamboni's father originated from Arsio in Trentino, northern Italy.

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.