The word for magic in Italian is magia (feminine, plural: magie). Both words can be traced back to the Latin magica, which in turn comes from the Greek magike (‘the art of magus’). Below are some useful verbs you’ll often see used with magia: Nel medioevo, tutti credevano nella magia. In the Middle Ages, everyone …
The word for both peanut and the peanut plant in Italian is arachide (feminine, plural: arachidi). Just as you can call a peanut a groundnut, goober or monkey nut in English, Italian too has three synonyms: nocciola americana, pistacchio di terra and cece di terra. Le arachidi sono il mio snack preferito. Peanuts are my …
Only a couple of days ago, we published an article about the word for lightning (fulmine) so it would be remiss of us if we didn’t talk about its partner in crime tuono (masculine, plural: tuoni) which is the word for thunder in Italian. Tuono derives from the verb tuonare (or the old literary variation …
In English, we have two separate terms to describe a cloth bag stuffed with soft material used as a comfortable support. The kind we use to support the head while sleeping or lying down is called a pillow whereas the kind placed on chairs and sofas is called a cushion. In Italian, both are referred …
The words machine in English and macchina (feminine, plural: macchine) in Italian both derive from the Latin “machina”, which in turn comes from the Greek “mekhos” meaning contrivance. Both refer to a mechanical apparatus with several parts, which together perform a particular task. Hanno costruito una macchina complicata con semplici materiali domestici. They built a …
The male counterpart to a gallina (chicken / hen) in Italian is a gallo (masculine, plural: galli). It comes from the Latin word gallus. Some of the most distinctive characteristics of the rooster are its red crest (cresta), dangling wattle (bargigli), puffed-up tail (coda) and most importantly, its crow (canto) which is represented by the …