One of my son’s favourite pastimes, like many kids his age, is jumping in muddy puddles (pozzanghere). Unfortunately, he’ll sometimes run into a puddle even without his boots (stivali) on! stivale boot According to Treccani, the origin of stivale dates back to Old French estival, but beyond that, its etymology is uncertain. However, Devoto-Oli suggests …
A camicia (shirt or button down shirt) is an item of clothing made of different fabrics like cotton, linen, silk, or flannel, that can have long or short sleeves. Camicia comes from the Latin term camisia, whose origins are uncertain. Unlike a maglietta (T-shirt) or a maglia (a shirt made with heavier cloth), a camicia …
Some Italian words encompass multiple meanings, extending far beyond their original definitions, and our word of the day piumino is no exception! Piumino is a derivative of piuma meaning feather. It is a masculine noun that takes the following definite and indefinite articles: Originally, piumino designated the down of birds, which is the layer of …
In Italian, the word abito is used to denote any specific kind of garment worn over underwear, be that a gown, dress, suit or outfit. It derives from the Latin habitus, meaning demeanour or appearance. Because it is a masculine word beginning with a, it takes the following definite and indefinite articles: Mi piacciono molto …
The Italian word for the loose-fitting garments we wear to bed is pigiama. It entered the language via English, but can be traced back to the Urdu and Persian words pāy (leg) + jāma (clothing). In English, we use the plural pyjamas to talk about a single pair of pyjamas, whereas Italian has a singular …
The word for an ornament that one fastens to clothing, either for decorative purposes or as a clasp, is spilla in Italian. It translates as either brooch or pin in English. Being a feminine noun, it takes the following definite and indefinite articles: la spillathe broochuna spillaa brooch le spillethe broochesdelle spille(some) brooches Some different …