A tormentone is an expression, catchphrase, buzzword, meme, or piece of music that is repeated ad nauseam via the mass media or word of mouth, gaining rapid popularity and widespread diffusion as a result. Tormentone is a masculine noun, and the plural form is tormentoni. il tormentone un tormentone i tormentoni dei tormentoni It derives from …
Today’s word is zerbino which, as exotic as it sounds, actually refers to the humblest of household objects: the doormat. It comes from the Arabic zirbiy which translates as either rug or cushion. Zerbino is a masculine noun whose plural form is zerbini. Any masculine noun that starts with the letter z in Italian must …
The Italian word for lemon is limone, which comes from the Arabic līmūn, the collective term for fruits of this kind. Limone is a masculine noun, and its plural form is limoni. il limonethe lemon un limonea lemon i limonithe lemons dei limoni(some) lemons Interestingly, limone is also the name given to the lemon tree, …
Pendolare is an interesting Italian word in that it can be classified as a noun, verb or adjective. Let’s begin by looking at its usage as a verb, as doing so will help us understand the meaning behind the noun and adjective. Pendolare is a regular -are verb that means to oscillate, to swing, or …
Today’s word is part of our Italian Christmas Word Advent Calendar series. Each day throughout December, we’ll post a word or phrase that is related to the holiday season. Enjoy! Christmastime is upon us yet again, and if you are studying Italian, you may well be wondering what Christmas is called in Italy! Natale/na·tà·le/(masculine noun) Christmas Unlike …
The Italian word for a person with magical powers, or a person that performs magic tricks, is mago. Mago is a masculine noun, and for this reason, it is only used to denote male figures with magical powers. The feminine equivalent is maga and their respective plurals are maghi (masculine, plural) and maghe (feminine, plural). …