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 …
I never cease to be amazed at how Italian manages to make even the ugliest things in life sound beautiful. This is certainly the case with the word spazzatura which translates as garbage, trash or rubbish. Spazzatura is a feminine noun whose plural form is spazzature. la spazzaturauna spazzatura le spazzature* delle spazzature* *Note: keep …
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 is a masculine noun whose plural form is zerbini. Any masculine noun that starts with the letter z in Italian must …
The Italian word for a mirror is specchio. It comes from the Latin speculum, which is a derivative of the Latin verb specere meaning to look. Specchio is a masculine noun. Take away the final -o and you have the plural, specchi. uno specchiolo specchio degli specchigli specchi There are two ways to express the …
A key piece of furniture that occupies the corner of most bedrooms is the guardaroba, the word for a wardrobe in Italian. Derived from the French noun garde-robe, it is the combination of the verb garder (meaning ‘to guard’ or ‘to look after’) and robe (meaning ‘gown’ or ‘suit’). The word final -a might lead …