Italian Word of the Day: Rottame (wreck / piece of junk)

Ever since we began feeling the first aches and pains of age, my husband and I have jokingly started calling each other rottame (masculine, plural: rottami). It derives from rotto, the past participle of the verb rompere (to break), and the suffix -ame whose purpose is to form collective nouns from simple nouns, often with …

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Italian Word of the Day: Gente (people)

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 …

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Italian Word of the Day: Figlio (son / child)

Figlio is the word for son in Italian. It derives from the Latin filius and is related to words such as femmina (female) and fecondo (fertile). It can also refer more generically to a child if the sex is unknown (as in the case of an unborn child for example). The plural figli can mean …

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Italian Word of the Day: Vigliacco (coward)

One way of saying coward in Italian is vigliacco (masculine, plural: vigliacchi). There is also the feminine version vigliacca and its plural vigliacche. For once, we have a word that doesn’t derive directly from Latin but rather the Spanish bellaco meaning wicked or vile. It refers not only to those who, for lack of courage, …

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Italian Word of the Day: Sconosciuto (stranger)

The Italian word for a person one does not know or with whom one is not familiar is sconosciuto if you are talking about a man or sconosciuta for a woman. It is the past participle of sconoscere, a relatively uncommon verb meaning to disown or not want to recognise. The respective plurals are sconosciuti …

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Italian Word of the Day: Bugiardo (liar)

The word for a person who habitually tells lies is bugiardo in Italian. The feminine form is bugiarda whereas the plural forms are bugiardi and bugiarde respectively. It is a combination of the now-obsolete verb bugiare (to lie) and the suffix -ardo. (Note that the standard verb for to lie is mentire in modern Italian.) …

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