The term "polenta" is so entrenched in Italian culture that the son of Christopher Columbus wrote about Caribe natives giving him ears of a yellow cereal they use to make a sort of "polenta", named something sounding like "maize".
This means in Italy both these words were known far before the arrival of the current corn, but there aren't sure references about their origin.
@rastinza @tlalexander
The term "polenta" is so entrenched in Italian culture that the son of Christopher Columbus wrote about Caribe natives giving him ears of a yellow cereal they use to make a sort of "polenta", named something sounding like "maize".
This means in Italy both these words were known far before the arrival of the current corn, but there aren't sure references about their origin.