A word we use a lot around our house is borraccia, which has a number of translations including water bottle, canteen, flask and thermos. Why? Because my three year old has the terrible habit of constantly misplacing his! Borraccia is a feminine noun that comes from the Spanish borracha, meaning “leather jug”. It takes the …
Stravolto is an adjective you can expect to hear fairly often in daily Italian conversation, but what does it mean? Let’s take a look now! Stravolto comes from the verb stravolgere which means “to turn something on its head” “to distort” or “to upset”, or in a more positive sense, “to revolutionise”. It is the …
What do the acts of prodding, poking, teasing and stimulating all have in common? They are all linked by the verb stuzzicare in Italian, as we’ll discover below! The origin of stuzzicare appears to be uncertain. Devoto-Oli claims it comes from the verb tuzzare meaning “to strike at the tip,” while Treccani suggests it is …
A camicia (shirt or button down shirt) is an item of clothing made of different fabrics like cotton, linen, silk, or flannel, that can have long or short sleeves. Camicia comes from the Latin term camisia, whose origins are uncertain. Unlike a maglietta (T-shirt) or a maglia (a shirt made with heavier cloth), a camicia …
Sopracciglio is a masculine noun that means eyebrow. Modelled on the Latin supercilium, it is the combination of ciglio (eyelash) and sopra (meaning ‘above‘). Before we begin, it’s important to clarify that this word has two possible plurals: the feminine plural le sopracciglia, which indicates a single pair of eyebrows, and the masculine plural i …
Today’s word miscela means mixture or blend, or more specifically, a mix of two or more different substances whose particles are blended without undergoing any chemical reactions. This noun originates from the Latin adjective miscellus, meaning “mixed,” which is derived from the verb miscere, indicating the act of mixing. Because miscela is a feminine noun, …