Italian Word of the Day: Trucco (make-up / trick)

The Italian word trucco (masculine, plural: trucchi) has different meanings. One of the first that comes to mind is make-up. It can be used in reference to cosmetics applied to the face in order to beautify a person’s appearance, as well as theatrical make-up used to alter a person’s face for live performances, film or …

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Italian Word of the Day: Osso (bone)

The Italian word for bone is osso (masculine). It derives from the Latin os. Like many parts of the body, this word has two plural forms: ossa (feminine) and ossi (masculine). The masculine plural, formed from the singular osso, refers to individual bones considered separately, or to the bones of an animal. The feminine plural …

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Italian Word of the Day: Sangue (blood)

The word for blood in Italian is sangue (masculine). If you have trouble remembering this term, I find it helps to think of the English word sanguine, which shares the same Latin origin (sanguis). Below are a few verbs that are often used with sangue: When describing something related to blood, the adjective sanguigno is …

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Italian Word of the Day: Gomito (elbow)

The word for elbow in Italian is gomito (masculine). It derives from the Latin term cubitus. Like many other parts of the body, gomito has a masculine and feminine plural form despite being a masculine noun. The masculine plural i gomiti is widely accepted as the standard form whereas the feminine plural le gomita is …

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Italian Word of the Day: Gola (throat)

The word for throat in Italian is gola (feminine, plural: gole). It derives from the Latin gula. One of the telltale symptoms of a cold is a mal di gola (sore throat), otherwise known as a gola infiammata (lit: an inflamed throat). In some cases, you may also experience a gola secca (dry throat) or …

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Italian Word of the Day: Sorriso (smile)

The word for smile in Italian is sorriso (masculine, plural: sorrisi). It derives from the verb sorridere (to smile) which in turn comes from the Latin subridere, the combination of sub (under) and ridere (to laugh). Another way to say to smile besides sorridere is fare un sorriso – literally to make a smile. The …

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