The Italian word for a glass or cup from which one drinks is bicchiere (masculine, plural: bicchieri). It is thought to derive from a dialectal form of old French, or possibly the Greek βῖκος (bikos). Learn with our video Ho fatto cadere il bicchiere e si è frantumato in mille pezzi. I dropped the glass …
The word for a mat or coaster that you put under cups, mugs, bottles and glasses to avoid staining or wetting a surface is sottobicchiere (masculine, plural: sottobicchieri) in Italian. Learn with our video It is the combination of two words: sotto meaning under or underneath and bicchiere meaning drinking glass. Sottobicchieri can be made …
The word spazzolino (masculine, plural: spazzolini) in Italian literally means ‘little brush’ and can be used to denote a brush, or spazzola, with small dimensions. However, if someone uses this word without any surrounding context, you can safely assume that they are talking about a toothbrush, with the full name being spazzolino da denti. Learn …
The word for a roof tile or shingle in Italian is tegola (feminine, plural: tegole). It comes from the Latin tegula which derives from the verb tegere meaning to cover. Un tetto di tegole is a tiled roof whereas the verb to tile translates as coprire / rivestire di tegole (lit: to cover with tiles). …
A blanket term for any decorative or artistic object kept on a shelf or piece of furniture, regardless of its value, is soprammobile (masculine, plural: soprammobili) in Italian. Some possible translations in English are knick-knack, shelf ornament or decorative piece. It is a combination of two words: sopra meaning on top of or above and …
The word for any piece of cloth used for drying dishes or for household cleaning is strofinaccio (masculine, plural: strofinacci) in Italian. If we break it down into its component parts, we can see that it is composed of the verb strofinare (to rub) and the pejorative suffix -accio which denotes something bad or unattractive. …