Heather Broster
A common word for jacket in Italian is giubbotto. It is the augmentative form of giubba, which in modern Italian refers to the shirt worn by jockeys or the jacket of military uniforms. Both can ultimately be traced back to the Arabic gubba, meaning ‘cotton petticoat’. Giubbotto is a masculine noun, which means it takes …
Baraonda is an evocative Italian word used to describe the confusion caused by the comings and goings of numerous people. The word entered the Italian language from the Spanish barahunda, which likely had onomatopoeic origins. Baraonda is a feminine noun whose plural form is baraonde. Here are the definite and indefinite articles it takes: la …
Today we’re going to be looking at the word cera, which means wax or polish. It comes from the Latin cera of the same meaning and spelling. Cera is a feminine noun, so it takes the following definite and indefinite articles: la cerathe wax una ceraa wax le cerethe waxes delle cere(some) waxes Note: Although …
Although we’re leaving the depths of winter behind us, some items of clothing remain indispensable, especially when cold winds are still blowing strong. One of these items is the sciarpa (scarf)! Sciarpa derives from the French écharpe, which in turn comes from the Franconian skerpa, a kind of shoulder belt with loops or pockets for …
The verb sbucciare means to peel, to shell, or to husk in Italian. In other words, it denotes the action of removing the skin from a fruit, vegetable or nut. Sbucciare is composed of the s- prefix, which in this case denotes the absence or loss of some quality or attribute that is normally present, …
The word raffica in Italian is difficult to translate into English using just one blanket term. Raffica is a feminine noun. The plural is raffiche. la raffica una raffica le raffiche delle raffiche What’s important to know is that raffica is used to describe things that are relentless, fast and continuous. In weather terminology, for …