Today we’re going to be taking a look at one of my favourite vegetables, the humble yet incredibly tasty carciofo. Unlike many Italian words, the word doesn’t have a Latin origin – rather, it comes from the Arabic kharshuf. It is the word, not only for the edible part of the plant, but also the …
The Italian word for a mirror is specchio. It comes from the Latin speculum, which is a derivative of the Latin verb specere meaning to look. Specchio is a masculine noun. Take away the final -o and you have the plural, specchi. uno specchiolo specchio degli specchigli specchi There are two ways to express the …
If you find yourself regularly coming up against stumbling blocks while trying to realise your goals, you’ll definitely find the word intoppo useful! Intoppo is a masculine noun. The plural is intoppi. l’intoppoun intoppo gli intoppidegli intoppi Intoppo, which comes from the verb intoppare (to crash, collide, stumble), describes the act of colliding with an …
The word for lake in Italian in lago, which derives from the Latin lacum of the same meaning. Lago is a masculine noun whose plural form in laghi. Remember to insert the letter ‘h’ between ‘g’ and ‘i’ to preserve the hardness of the ‘g’! il lago = the lakeun lago = a lake i …
The noun sbaglio in Italian, which means mistake or error, is a derivative of the verb sbagliare (to make a mistake), which itself is a combination of the subtractive prefix s- and abbagliare (to blind, to dazzle). Sbaglio is a masculine noun, but because it starts with s + consonant, the definite and indefinite articles …
Although the words lizard and lucertola share the same Latin origin – the word lacertus which meant lizard, sea fish or muscle – I think many of you would agree that the Italian has a much prettier ring to it! Lucertola is a feminine singular noun that becomes lucertole in its plural form. la lucertolauna …