There are numerous false friends in Italian and English, but few cause as much confusion as libreria and library. Although they share the same origin – the Latin word libraria – they mean two very different things. The Italian libreria has retained the original Latin meaning, bookshop or bookstore, whereas the English library denotes the …
The word for a shell, or seashell, in Italian is just as beautiful as the object itself: conchiglia. It can be traced back to the Latin conchylium which in turn comes from the Greek konkhýlion, a derivative of kónkhē meaning “concavity”. So if you ever have trouble recalling this word, just remember that shells are …
Modo is a word that means various things in Italian, but three of the most common translations are way, method and manner. It derives from the Latin modus (“measure”) and can easily be recalled by thinking of the word mode in English. Because modo is a masculine noun beginning with a consonant, it takes the …
Biberon is the Italian word for a baby bottle. It entered the language via the French biberon which can be traced back to the Latin verb bibere (to drink). It is an invariable masculine noun, which means that its form does not change in the plural. II bambino preferisce il seno al biberon. The baby …
The Italian word for airplane is aeroplano. It derives from the Latin aer (air) and planus (plane) via the French aéroplane (which has since been replaced by avion). It is a masculine noun starting with a vowel, so it takes the following definite and indefinite articles: Contrary to popular belief, the everyday term for airplane, …
Ricetta is the word Italians use for both recipe, as in a list of instructions for preparing a dish, and prescription, as in the instructions written by a doctor so that a patient may receive a medicine or treatment. Curiously, in the 16th century, the word recipe in late Middle English used to refer to …