Italian Word of the Day: Irascibile (irascible / quick-tempered)

Do you have a quick-tempered person in your life? Or perhaps you are the irascible one? In either case, it’s worth learning the Italian adjective irascibile, which describes a person’s tendency to be easily angered. irascibile quick-tempered / irascible The adjective irascible in English certainly hasn’t fallen out of use, but it is definitely used …

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Italian Word of the Day: Ventilatore (fan / ventilator)

Recent heatwaves in Italy and elsewhere across the world have made one household item absolutely indispensable – il ventilatore, or fan in English. ventilatore fan / ventilator Ventilatore is a masculine noun made of up two parts: the verb ventilare (to air out / ventilate) and the suffix -tore, indicating a person or thing that …

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Italian Word of the Day: Pistola (pistol)

Nobody wants to be called un pistola in certain parts of Italy. And no, it has nothing dangerous attached to it, even if the word does sound suspiciously like the English pistol. Which, as it turns out, is also one of its meanings. But only one. Let’s find out the rest! pistola pistol 1. PISTOLA …

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Italian Word of the Day: Tastiera (keyboard)

I don’t know about you, but it’s hard for me to imagine a world without the ever-present tastiera, which is the Italian word for keyboard. Back in school in the ’90s, I wrote out all my notes by hand, and there’s plenty of evidence suggesting that this method can improve memory retention. Still, when it …

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Italian Word of the Day: Dito (finger)

One of the primary ways we engage with the word is through our mani (hands), or more specifically, our fingers. In Italian, the word for a single digit is the masculine il dito, while the most commonly used plural is the feminine le dita. We will delve deeper into this phenomenon of masculine nouns becoming …

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Italian Word of the Day: Carico (loaded / charged / load)

Today we will be investigating a word that has a variety of meanings depending on the context: carico, which comes from the verb caricare (to load / to charge). This verb, in turn, comes from the Late Latin carrĭcare, a derivative of carrus meaning carro (cart / wagon). carico First, let’s get the grammar out of the …

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