The word for myth in Italian is mito (masculine, plural: miti). The origin of both words can be traced back to the Greek muthos meaning narrative or something said. As in English, mito generally refers to either: a) a traditional story, typically involving supernatural beings and events, concerning the early history of people or explaining …
In Italy, the polite way of saying that you are full is sazio after a meal if you are a man or sazia if you are a woman. (The respective plural forms are sazi and sazie.) It shares the same origin as the English words sate and satiated. Che mangiata! Sono proprio sazio! Era tutto …
The word for brain in Italian in cervello (masculine). It derives from the Latin cerebellum which is the diminutive form of cerebrum (brain). Cervelli is the simple plural of cervello, whereas the feminine plural cervella indicates the matter of which the brain is made, mostly notably in the expression far saltare le cervella (to blow …
In English, there are separate words for different kinds of careless marks made while writing or drawing. We have blot for a dark stain made by ink, scrawl for illegible handwriting, scribble for something written or drawn in a hurry, and doodle for a poorly drawn picture. In Italian, all these concepts can be expressed …
The Italian word granchio (masculine, plural: granchi), which means crab, comes from the Latin word cancer of the same meaning. It is from this Latin word that we also get the medical term cancro (cancer), since it was thought at the time that the swollen veins surrounding cancerous tumours resembled the limbs of a crab. …
The word chicco (masculine, plural: chicchi) in Italian primarily describes the grain from certain cereals. Some examples of chicchi include: grano (wheat) >> chicco di grano (grain of wheat) orzo (barley) >> chicco d’orzo (grain of barley) riso (rice) >> chicco di riso (grain of rice) mais (corn) >> chicco di mais (corn) Il mugnaio …