Meanings
paisano1
plural paisanos · alternative paisan
- USAn Italian(-American), particularly as a term of address between Italian-American men.
paisano2
plural paisanos · alternative paisan
- A native, especially a native of California of mixed Spanish and American Indian ancestry.
- SouthwesternUSA roadrunner.
Within a very few minutes the cattleman was mounted and away. Paisano, well named after that ungainly but swift-running bird, struck into his long lope that ate up the ground like a strip of macaroni.
1903 February, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “Hygeia at the Solito”, in Everybody’s Magazine, volume VIII, number 2, New York, N.Y.: John Wanamaker, →ISSN, page 178, column 2
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
paisano · noun
- Neapolitanpaisano
- Englishpaisano
From Neapolitan paisano. Doublet of peasant.
More words from Neapolitan
Full word history & related roots →paisano · noun
- Spanishpaisano
- Englishpaisano
From Spanish paisano. Doublet of peasant.
More words from Spanish
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
paisano. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paisano
“paisano.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paisano. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “paisano,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paisano.
Source: paisano on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.