The adjective pignolo (also written as pignuolo in rare cases) in Italian is used to describe someone who is fussy, pedantic or extremely meticulous in nature. Learn with our video It derives from the word pigna (pine cone), but precisely how it came to denote a fussy person is uncertain. According to Treccani, this figurative …
When you think of the word toast, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Probably a slice of bread (pane) that’s just popped out of the toaster (tostapane), covered in butter (burro), jam (marmellata), or peanut butter (burro di arachidi). Note: Toast isn’t pronounced /toʊst/ in Italian but /tōst/ with a long ‘o’ sound. …
The adjective lunatico in Italian is used to describe someone with a fickle and inconstant character, who is subject to mood swings or sudden outbursts of anger. Although it shares the same origin as the English word lunatic, its meaning is closer to moody or temperamental. Learn with our video Lunatico comes from the Latin …
Today’s word of the day is pianoforte (masculine, plural: pianoforti) which is how you would say piano in Italian. Learn with our video Composed of the words piano and forte (literally ‘soft and loud’), it is an abbreviation of the original name which Bartolomeo Cristofori gave his invention in the early 1700s: gravicembalo col piano …
The Italian word for wisdom is saggezza (feminine, plural: saggezze). It is derived from the adjective saggio (meaning wise) and can be traced back to the Latin sapere (to know) via the French sage. Learn with our video The expression con saggezza (with wisdom) is often used with the verbs parlare (to speak), agire (to …
If you have a soft spot for sugary foods like chocolate, cakes and candy, an adjective you should add to your Italian lexicon right away is dolce, which means sweet. Learn with our video ‘Dolce’ as an adjective Dolce is one of those adjectives whose form only changes for the plural, not for the gender. …