Today’s word is zerbino which, as exotic as it sounds, actually refers to the humblest of household objects: the doormat. It comes from the Arabic zirbiy which translates as either rug or cushion.
Zerbino is a masculine noun whose plural form is zerbini. Any masculine noun that starts with the letter z in Italian must take the following definite and indefinite articles:
lo zerbino
the doormat
uno zerbino
a doormat
gli zerbini
the doormats
degli zerbini
(some) doormats
Chiedo sempre a tutti di pulire le scarpe sullo zerbino prima di entrare in casa.
I always ask everyone to wipe their shoes on the doormat before entering the house.
As in English, zerbino can also be used figuratively to refer to a submissive person who allows others to dominate them.
Ti fai trattare come uno zerbino dal tuo capo.
You get treated like a doormat by your boss.
Did you know…?
Zerbino is also the name of a character in Ludovico Ariosto’s 16th-century epic poem Orlando Furioso. Despite Ariosto painting an extremely positive picture of the character in the poem itself, the name has since become synonymous with a young gallant, who despite being well-groomed, dresses and acts ostentatiously, and lacks elegance and good taste.When this is the meaning, Italians tend to use the diminutive zerbinotto instead of zerbino.
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
