The word for young lady in Italian is signorina (feminine, plural: signorine). It derives from the word signora meaning lady or woman. The suffixes -ino / -ina are used to form diminutives, so signorina literally means little lady. L’ho conosciuta quando era una bambina, ma ora è diventata una signorina. I met her when she …
The Italian word for apple is mela (feminine, plural: mele) and the tree upon which they grow is called melo. Both words derive from the Latin word “mālum” meaning “any tree-fruit fleshy on the outside and having a kernel within.” (Lewis & Short Latin Dictionary) Today it forms the basis of many fruit names in …
The word for night in Italian is notte (feminine, plural: notti). Even if you’ve only been studying Italian for a few short weeks, you will certainly have encountered the greeting buona notte which means good night. Buona notte Alice, e grazie ancora di tutto! Good night, Alice, and thanks again for everything! Occasionally, Italians use …
Have you got a romantic side to you? If so, let’s take a look at the word for heart in Italian, which is cuore (masculine, plural: cuori). As in English, the word cuore can refer to the muscular organ that pumps blood around the body, the symbol ♥ represented by two equal curves meeting at …
Today is the first day of February (il primo giorno di febbraio) and that means the days are getting longer and winter is finally on its way out! 🙂 Febbraio is the second month (secondo mese) of the year according to the Julian and Gregorian calendars. As is the case with all months of the …
The room in the house where all the cooking is done is called a cucina (feminine, plural: cucine) in Italian. It is closely related to the verb cucinare which, as you’ve probably guessed, means to cook. Ho cucinato un pollo in cucina oggi. I cooked a chicken in the kitchen today. When talking about the layout of …