Italian Word of the Day: Foglia (leaf)

Just saying the word leaf – or foglia in Italian – out loud brings to mind visions of lush forests, gentle breezes, and the beauty of nature. In today’s article, we’ll discover the many facets of this word and how to use it in Italian. Foglia is a feminine noun whose plural form is foglie. …

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Italian Word of the Day: Bocciolo (bud)

One of the first sights of primavera (spring) is the odd bocciolo (bud) growing on bushes and trees. Bocciolo is a masculine noun whose plural form is boccioli. You can see which direct and indirect articles it takes below: Sotto casa mia c’è un albero pieno di boccioli. In front of my house there is …

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Italian Word of the Day: Conchiglia (shell)

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 …

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Italian Word of the Day: Ciottolo (pebble)

A sasso (stone) that has been made smooth and round by the action of water is a ciottolo (pebble) in Italian. It is the diminutive form of ciotto, an archaic word for pebble. Ciottolo is a masculine noun whose plural form is ciottoli. The definite and indefinite articles it takes are as follows: Prese un …

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Italian Word of the Day: Aiuola (flowerbed)

One of the hardest words to pronounce in Italian for English speakers is the feminine noun aiuola, which means flowerbed. Why is it so difficult, you might ask? Well, it has a lot to do with the presence of four adjacent vowel sounds, a phenomenon that doesn’t really occur in English. In fact, the plural …

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Italian Word of the Day: Mare (sea)

Do you enjoy spending time by the seaside? Then you will love today’s word! The sea in Italian translates as mare, which should be easy to remember as it closely resembles the English word marine. It derives from the Latin mare of the same spelling. It is a masculine noun that takes the following definite …

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