January, or gennaio in Italian, is the month that marks the beginning of the new year. Despite the days being short and the weather cold, it is a wonderful time to visit Northern Italy if you enjoy skiing and hiking in the mountains. Gennaio is the first month (primo mese) of the year according to …
The Italian word for life is vita (feminine, plural: vite). It shares the same root as the English words vital and vitamin, which is the Latin vita of the same spelling and meaning. In almost every sense of the word, it mirrors its English equivalent barring a few exceptions. For starters, it can refer, not …
Figlio is the word for son in Italian. It derives from the Latin filius and is related to words such as femmina (female) and fecondo (fertile). It can also refer more generically to a child if the sex is unknown (as in the case of an unborn child for example). The plural figli can mean …
Last night at the dinner table, our six month old son – who usually has the attention span of a goldfish – spent the entire duration of our meal fixated on a toy horse, analysing every hoof, hair and marking on its colourful body. To describe this kind of behaviour, there is a great verb …
The word for masterpiece or best work in Italian is capolavoro (masculine, plural: capolavori). It is the combination of the words capo (head / extremity) and lavoro (work / job). Traditionally capolavoro refers to the very best piece of work by an artist or a writer, or of a particular era or style. Some examples …
Spicciolo (masculine, plural spiccioli) is the word for loose / spare / small change in Italian. It derives from the verb spicciolare which means to pick off or to change (a sum of money) into (a different currency or denomination). Hai qualche spicciolo da darmi? Do you have any spare change you can give me? …