A word that should be very easy for English speakers to remember is lampada, which means lamp in Italian. Its origin can be traced back to the Latin lampas -ădis, which in turn comes from the Greek lampás -ádos, a derivative of lámpō meaning ‘to shine’. Lampada is a feminine noun, so it takes the …
The word for toothpaste in Italian is dentifricio. It comes from the Latin dentifricium, the compilation of dens dentis “tooth” and the verb fricare “to rub”. dentifricio toothpaste Dentifricio is a masculine noun, so it takes the following definite and indefinite articles: il dentifriciothe toothpaste un dentifricioa toothpaste i dentifricithe toothpastes dei dentifrici(some) toothpastes Some …
The word for fork in Italian is forchetta. It is the diminutive form of the word forca (pitchfork), which comes from the Latin furca. Here are the definite and indefinite articles that must be used with this feminine noun: la forchettathe fork una forchettaa fork le forchettethe forks delle forchette(some) forks A few different kinds …
The word for spoon in Italian is cucchiaio. Its origin can be traced back to the Latin cochlearium, a derivative of cochlea, which was the tool originally used to eat snails! Here are the definite and indefinite articles that accompany this masculine noun: il cucchiaiothe spoon un cucchiaioa spoon i cucchiaithe spoons dei cucchiai(some) spoons …
The Italian word for wreath or garland is ghirlanda. Although its origin is uncertain, it is thought that it might derive from the Provençal word guirlanda. Ghirlanda is a feminine noun whose plural form is ghirlande. la ghirlandathe wreath una ghirlandaa wreath le ghirlandethe wreaths delle ghirlande(some) wreaths Lucia sta attaccando una ghirlanda fatta a …
These days, my son, who is now an extremely inquisitive toddler, can’t keep his hands off the telecomando (remote control) for the television. He’s so obsessed that I might have to buy him one of his own! Telecomando is formed of two parts: the prefix tele- which means “at or over a long distance” and …