Today’s ‘word of the day’ is part of our Italian Halloween Word series. On the days leading up to Halloween, we’ll post a word that is related to this spooky time of year. Enjoy! 🦇 Scheletro (masculine, plural: scheletri) is the Italian word for skeleton. It derives from the Greek term skeletos which means ‘dried …
The noun spavento (masculine, plural: spaventi) in Italian can translate in numerous ways including scare, fright, dread, terror or fear. It derives from the verb spaventare which means to frighten or to scare. It often appears in the company of the following verbs: fare spavento (a qualcuno) = to scare (somebody) mettere spavento (a qualcuno) …
The word for dragon in Italian is drago (masculine, plural: draghi). It comes from the Latin draco which in turn comes from the Greek drakon meaning serpent. Note: Anglophone learners of Italian might be tempted to use the synonym dragone since it sounds closer to the English word but drago is the preferred term. La …
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 …
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 …
The word for monster in Italian is mostro (masculine, plural: mostri). Be careful not to confuse this word with the similar sounding mostra, the Italian word for exhibition! As in English, the word mostro, in its most literal sense, refers to a large, ugly and frightening imaginary creature whose origins may be religious, literary, mythical …