'Prosciutto' is Latin for 'thoroughly sucked dry' — describing months of salt-curing that draws out moisture.
Italian dry-cured ham, typically served in very thin slices.
From Italian 'prosciutto' (ham, especially dry-cured ham), from Vulgar Latin *'perexsuctus' (thoroughly dried out, fully sucked dry), a compound of Latin 'per-' (through, thoroughly — an intensifying prefix) + 'exsuctus' (sucked out, drained of moisture), the past participle of 'exsugere' (to suck out), from 'ex-' (out) + 'sugere' (to suck). The Latin 'sugere' traces to PIE *sewk- (to suck), which produced Old English 'sucan' (to suck), Lithuanian 'sunkti' (to filter, to press out liquid), and Welsh 'sugno' (to suck). Prosciutto is therefore literally 'that which has been thoroughly sucked dry' — a cured ham from which all moisture has been extracted
'Prosciutto' literally means 'thoroughly sucked dry' — from Latin 'per-' (thoroughly) + 'exsūctus' (sucked out). The name describes the curing process: salt draws moisture out of the pork leg over months of aging, 'sucking' the water from the meat and concentrating the flavor. Prosciutto di Parma must be cured for at least 12 months (often 24–36) in the specific microclimate of the Parma region