Italian Word of the Day: Grandine (hail)

The Italian word for hail, as in pellets of frozen rain, is grandine (feminine, plural: grandini). It derives from the Latin word of the same spelling. One way of translating the verb to hail is to use the verb cadere (to fall), as in cade la grandine (the hail falls), but it is just as …

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Italian Word of the Day: Fiamma (flame)

The Italian word for flame is fiamma (feminine, plural: fiamme). Both the Italian and English words can be traced back to the Latin flamma of the same meaning. /fiàm·ma/ Some of the most common types of flames and the objects that produce them include: La fiamma della candela oscillava nel vento. The flame of the …

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Italian Word of the Day: Vita (life)

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 …

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Italian Word of the Day: Perla (pearl)

The Italian word for pearl is the similar sounding perla (feminine, plural: perle). It is thought that both derive from the Latin perna (leg), so called for the leg-of-mutton shape of the mollusk shells from which they originate. Pearls broadly fall into three categories: natural pearls (perle naturali / vere), cultured pearls (perle coltivate) and …

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Italian Word of the Day: Onda (wave)

As I sit here writing this word of the day, I am looking out over the sea (mare), soaking in the sound and smell of the waves crashing against the shore. The Italian word for this phenomenon is onda (feminine, plural: onde), which derives from the Latin unda. Below are a few useful verbs that …

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Italian Word of the Day: Diamante (diamond)

The Italian word for diamond is diamante (masculine, plural: diamanti). Both the Italian and English words can be traced back to the Latin diamas, which in turn comes from the Greek adamans meaning ‘untameable‘ or ‘invincible‘. Natural diamonds (diamanti naturali) are extracted from the depths of the Earth whereas synthetic diamonds (diamanti sintetici) are produced …

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