If I had to pick one Italian word to define the year 2020, I would be sorely tempted to go with mascherina (feminine, plural: mascherine) which is the Italian word for a mask that filters air. The diminutive of maschera (the word for any generic mask), it literally translates as little mask. È obbligatorio indossare …
An ingredient that serves as the basis for a wide variety of baked goods is flour, known as farina (feminine, plural: farine) in Italian. It derives from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. In addition to the standard …
Amato is an adjective in Italian that means beloved or loved. It is the past participle of the verb amare (to love). Because it is an adjective, the ending must match the gender and number of the subject in question: This particular adjective can appear before or after the subject it modifies – which may …
One way of translating the word people in Italian is gente (feminine, plural: genti). Although it is almost always used in the singular form, the plural le genti can be seen in literature or when referring to a population (e.g. le genti dell’antica Roma = the people of ancient Rome). It derives from the Latin …
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 …
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 …