If you are a person who is habitually wakeful or active at night, you might receive the nickname nottambulo which is the word for night owl in Italian. In particular, it indicates those who tend to spend the night walking or enjoying themselves in public places. It is a combination of the Latin words nox …
Amato is an adjective in Italian that means beloved or loved. It is the past participle of the verb amare (to love). Because it is an adjective, the ending must match the gender and number of the subject in question: This particular adjective can appear before or after the subject it modifies – which may …
A wonderful Italian word I love throwing into conversation at every opportunity is intramontabile (plural: intramontabili) which is an adjective meaning timeless, everlasting, enduring, immortal or evergreen. Note that the e/i ending (singular/plural) doesn’t change according to the gender of the noun. It derives from the verb tramontare meaning to set (as in the setting …
An adjective that describes something in poor condition due to neglect or lack of care is trasandato (masculine). The feminine equivalent is trasandata and their respective plurals are trasandati and trasandate. It is the past participle of the obsolete verb trasandare, which is a combination of the prefix tra(n)s-, meaning across or beyond, and the …
One way of saying astonished, speechless or shocked in Italian is attonito. Being an adjective, it also has a feminine form (attonita), as well as masculine and feminine plural forms (attoniti and attonite). The word has an interesting origin according to Treccani. It comes from the Latin attonitus which itself is a derivative of the …
Spicciolo (masculine, plural spiccioli) is the word for loose / spare / small change in Italian. It derives from the verb spicciolare which means to pick off or to change (a sum of money) into (a different currency or denomination). Hai qualche spicciolo da darmi? Do you have any spare change you can give me? …