Italians have various words to describe brown, but there are specific situations where using the appropriate term in the correct context is crucial to avoid sounding odd. This is especially true when discussing hair colour. Indeed, no one in Italy would ever say, “she has brown hair” (Lei ha i capelli marroni). Let me explain …
The word for the darkest colour in existence owing to the complete absence or absorption of light is nero in Italian, or black in English. Its form changes to nera when modifying feminine nouns, and their respective plurals are neri and nere. Un vestito nero means a black suit, whereas a person who is vestito …
The colour purple is known as viola in Italian. It comes from the Latin word of the same spelling. When used as an adjective, it remains invariable, or in other words, it has the same form in both the singular and the plural. For example: When used as a noun, it is always masculine (il …
One of the seven colours that sits between arancione (orange) and verde (green) on the spectrum is giallo (yellow). It is also one of the three primary colours along with rosso (red) and blu (blue). It comes from the Latin word galbĭnus which means greenish-yellow or yellowish. Il giallo era il mio colore preferito quando …
The prickly shrub that bears red, pink, yellow or white flowers is called a rosa (feminine, plural: rose) in Italian. It is also the name given to the colour pink, presumably because many roses come in a pink shade. Questa rosa mi sembra più rosa che rossa. This rose looks more pink than red to …
