candidate: However , the ultimate etymology is unclear ; for example , the Italian word derives from the Latin words " Massa " ( itself from Greek Μάζα " Maza " ) meaning pastry and " Pan " meaning bread , this can be particularly seen in the Provençal " massapan " , the Portuguese " maçapão " ( where ' ç ' is an alternative form for the phoneme ' ss ' ) and old Spanish " mazapán " - the change from ' ss ' to ' z ' in Latin words was common in old Spanish and the ' r ' appeared later .