Coccinella is the word for ladybug (US) or ladybird (UK) in Italian. It derives from the Latin coccinus, which in turn comes from the Greek kókkinos, meaning ‘scarlet red colour’. It is a feminine noun whose plural form is coccinelle. The definite and indefinite articles it takes are as follows: la coccinellathe ladybuguna coccinellaa ladybug …
Have you ever made a mistake so big that it has continued to haunt you over the years? Then strafalcione is the word for you! Because strafalcione is a masculine noun starting with the consonants st-, it takes the following definite and indefinite articles: lo strafalcionethe big mistakeuno strafalcionea big mistake gli strafalcionithe big mistakesdegli …
A word that consistently makes it onto the list of the top 100 most common words in Italian is lavoro. It derives from the verb lavorare (to work), which in turn comes from the Latin ‘laborare’ (to toil). Because it is a masculine noun, lavoro takes the following definite and indefinite articles: il lavoroun lavoro …
Today’s word of the day is an indispensable piece of furniture found in most homes: the humble divano (couch, sofa, settee). It is a masculine noun, so it takes the following definite and indefinite articles: il divanothe couchun divanoa couch i divanithe couchesdei divani(some) couches Alice si sta rilassando sul divano, sorseggiando una tazza di …
The Italian word serpente (snake) should be very easy to remember for English speakers, as it sounds and looks just like the synonym serpent. Serpente is a masculine noun whose plural form is serpenti. It takes the following definite and indefinite articles: il serpentethe snakeun serpentea snake i serpentithe snakesdei serpenti(some) snakes Here are a …
The word for an ornament that one fastens to clothing, either for decorative purposes or as a clasp, is spilla in Italian. It translates as either brooch or pin in English. Being a feminine noun, it takes the following definite and indefinite articles: la spillathe broochuna spillaa brooch le spillethe broochesdelle spille(some) brooches Some different …