Today’s word is zerbino which, as exotic as it sounds, actually refers to the humblest of household objects: the doormat. It comes from the Arabic zirbiy which translates as either rug or cushion. zerbino doormat Zerbino is a masculine noun whose plural form is zerbini. Any masculine noun that starts with the letter z in …
As a toddler, my son was pretty fearless. However, he did have one archenemy: the dreaded aspirapolvere (vacuum cleaner / hoover)! Aspirapolvere is an invariable masculine noun, so it does not change in its plural form. Here are the definite and indefinite articles you should use with this word: It is composed of the verb …
The piece of bedroom furniture where we store household linen, bed linen and clothes is known as a comò in Italian. It is an adaptation of the French word commode, the piece of furniture containing a concealed chamber pot. comò chest of drawers Comò is a masculine noun, and it is also invariable, meaning that …
One of my favourite Italian words actually refers to a rather banal household object that we use multiple times throughout the day: the humble rubinetto, which is known as a tap in the UK, a faucet in the US, or a spigot in technical terms. rubinetto tap / faucet The etymology of this word is …
The word for a sink in Italian is lavandino. A word of northern origin, it is a derivative of the word lavanda meaning ‘wash‘ or ‘washing‘. lavandino It is a masculine noun, so it takes the following definite and indefinite articles: Oh no, il lavandino è intasato! Abbiamo uno sturalavandini? Oh no, the sink is …
The moment I entered an Italian bathroom for the first time, I was taken aback by the presence of a peculiar fixture resembling a secondary sink placed next to the toilet. Despite being completely and utterly unfamiliar with it, it didn’t require much imagination to deduce its true purpose! The bidet, pronounced as bidè in …