The Italian word for diamond is diamante (masculine, plural: diamanti). Both the Italian and English words can be traced back to the Latin diamas, which in turn comes from the Greek adamans meaning ‘untameable‘ or ‘invincible‘. Natural diamonds (diamanti naturali) are extracted from the depths of the Earth whereas synthetic diamonds (diamanti sintetici) are produced …
The word for daisy in Italian is margherita (feminine, plural: margherite). It derives from the Greek margaritis but entered the language via the Latin margarita. Although many flowers (fiori) belong to the margherita family, the two that are considered the archetypal species of that name are the margherita diploide (oxeye daisy) and margheritina comune (common …
The word for myth in Italian is mito (masculine, plural: miti). The origin of both words can be traced back to the Greek muthos meaning narrative or something said. mito myth As in English, mito generally refers to either: a) a traditional story, typically involving supernatural beings and events, concerning the early history of people …
The word for brain in Italian is cervello (masculine). It derives from the Latin cerebellum which is the diminutive form of cerebrum (brain). Cervelli is the simple plural of cervello, whereas the feminine plural cervella indicates the matter of which the brain is made, mostly notably in the expression far saltare le cervella (to blow …
In English, there are separate words for different kinds of careless marks made while writing or drawing. We have blot for a dark stain made by ink, scrawl for illegible handwriting, scribble for something written or drawn in a hurry, and doodle for a poorly drawn picture. In Italian, all these concepts can be expressed …
The Italian word granchio, which means crab, comes from the Latin word cancer of the same meaning. It is from this Latin word that we also get the medical term cancro (cancer), since it was thought at the time that the swollen veins surrounding cancerous tumours resembled the limbs of a crab. This association also …