Today’s word of the day is fiuto, which comes from the verb fiutare meaning to to smell / to sniff.
Fiuto is a masculine noun, so it takes the following definite and indefinite articles.
il fiuto
un fiuto
i fiuti
dei fiuti
Fiuto is most frequently used to talk about an animal’s sense of smell, or even more specifically, that of a cane (dog).
I cani hanno un fiuto molto più fine di quello degli esseri umani.
Dogs have a much keener sense of smell than humans.
However, it can also be used figuratively to denote a person’s intuition, instinct, flair or knack for something, such as gli affari (business).
Lila ha un buon fiuto per gli affari. Puoi fidarti di lei.
Lila has a good business instinct. You can trust her.
Related to this figurative meaning is the expression al fiuto which means right away, and with immediate intuition.
Io la gente disonesta la riconosco al fiuto.
I can immediately sniff out dishonest people.
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
