Kermesse is a Dutch language term that was borrowed in English, Italian, French and many other languages. Derived from ‘kerk‘ (church) and ‘mis‘ (mass), it originally denoted the mass said on the anniversary of the foundation of a church, in honour of the patron. kermesse country fair / festival Kermesse is an invariable feminine noun, …
These days, my son, who is now an extremely inquisitive toddler, can’t keep his hands off the telecomando (remote control) for the television. He’s so obsessed that I might have to buy him one of his own! Telecomando is formed of two parts: the prefix tele- which means “at or over a long distance” and …
The word for the act of trespassing is sconfinamento. It is the combination of the verb sconfinare (meaning to trespass or to cross over) and the suffix -mento (-ment), which forms nouns that represent the action of a related verb. Sconfinamento is masculine, and the plural is sconfinamenti. Here are the definite and indefinite articles …
The Italian word for fashion is moda. It entered the language via the French mode, which you might recognise from the expression à la mode. Moda is a feminine noun whose plural form is mode. la modathe fashion una modaa fashion le modethe fashions delle mode(some) fashions Here are a few useful verbs you will …
Broncio is an evocative noun in Italian that means pout or sulky expression. The exact origin of broncio remains somewhat contested. Treccani suggests that it may come from the late Latin brunchus meaning ‘snout’ or ‘face’, whereas Devoto-Oli states that it derives from the ancient French bronchier (meaning ‘vacillate’) which in turn comes from bronche …
I never cease to be amazed at how Italian manages to make even the ugliest things in life sound beautiful. This is certainly the case with the word spazzatura which translates as garbage, trash or rubbish. Spazzatura is a feminine noun whose plural form is spazzature. la spazzaturauna spazzatura le spazzature* delle spazzature* *Note: keep …