[It., dim. of bambo silly; the same root is found in L. bambalio dolt, blockhead, Gr. βαμβαίνειν, βαμβαλίζειν to stammer.] A child, a baby; spec. an image of the infant Jesus in swaddling-clothes, exhibited at Christmas in churches in Italy.
1761. Sterne, Tr. Shandy (1802), III. xiv. 302. When a state-orator has … hid his bambino in his mantle so cunningly.
1863. Geo. Eliot, Romola, xxxiii. I’ll bring you some breakfast, and show you the bambino.
1866. Howells, Venet. Life, xvii. 258. A hideous Bambino, and a Madonna in crinoline.
