Although we’re leaving the depths of winter behind us, some items of clothing remain indispensable, especially when cold winds are still blowing strong. One of these items is the sciarpa (scarf)! Sciarpa derives from the French écharpe, which in turn comes from the Franconian skerpa, a kind of shoulder belt with loops or pockets for …
The word raffica in Italian is difficult to translate into English using just one blanket term. Raffica is a feminine noun. The plural is raffiche. la raffica una raffica le raffiche delle raffiche What’s important to know is that raffica is used to describe things that are relentless, fast and continuous. In weather terminology, for …
The word for fork in Italian is forchetta. It is the diminutive form of the word forca (pitchfork), which comes from the Latin furca. Here are the definite and indefinite articles that must be used with this feminine noun: la forchettathe fork una forchettaa fork le forchettethe forks delle forchette(some) forks A few different kinds …
The Italian word for a joke that is silly or tasteless, or that is supposed to come off as witty but falls flat due to its inappropriateness, is the feminine noun spiritosaggine. Often used in its plural form spiritosaggini, it derives from the adjective spiritoso which can translate as either witty or smart-alecky depending on …
Today’s word of the day is senso which is a noun that derives from the Latin sensus meaning ‘faculty of thought, feeling and meaning’. Senso is masculine, and the plural is sensi. The definite and indefinite articles it takes are as follows: il sensothe sense un sensoa sense i sensithe senses dei sensi(some) senses Senso …
A term used to indicate “good manners” in many languages across Europe is etiquette, such as the Italian etichetta, the Spanish etiqueta and the French étiquette. It can be traced back to the old French estiquier / estiquer, meaning “to drive, affix, attach”. Owing to the addition of the diminutive suffix -etta in Italian, the …