The Italian word for colour, or color if you live in the States, is colore (masculine, plural: colori), both of which come from the Latin color. The seven most commonly cited and remembered colours of the rainbow (colori dell’arcobaleno), as defined by Isaac Newton, are as follows: Ci sono sette colori in un arcobaleno. There are …
The word for queen in Italian, which is regina (feminine, plural: regine), is easy to remember because it looks a lot like the verb to reign in English. Both words are related to the Latin term rex meaning king. Margherita di Savoia fu la prima regina consorte d’Italia. Margherita di Savoia was the first queen consort of …
The word for adventure in Italian is the similar-sounding avventura (feminine, plural: avventure)! Both words are based on the Latin term adventurus meaning ‘about to happen‘. Il nostro viaggio in Galles è stato un’avventura. Our trip around Wales was an adventure. Whereas in English, the significance of adventure is generally limited to an unusual, exciting …
Ombra (feminine, plural: ombre) is the word for both shadow (the dark shape cast behind an illuminated body) and shade (the darkness created by direct shelter from sunlight). In Italian, there is no real distinction between these two concepts. L’albero proiettava un’ombra sul marciapiede. The tree cast a shadow on the footpath. Mi sono seduto all’ombra …
The Italian word succo (plural: succhi), meaning juice in English, comes from the Latin succus. An easy way to remember this word is to think of the term succulent (full of juice). It is closely related to the verb succhiare meaning to suck, presumably because at the time, people would suck on the fruit to …
The Italian word polizia (feminine, plural: polizie) and the English word police both derive from the Latin word politia, which in turn comes from the Greek word politeia meaning citizenship. Of course today both the Italian and English refer to the civil force of a state, responsible for maintaining public order and preventing crime. La …