Italian Word of the Day: Aprile (April)

Today is the first day of April (il primo giorno di aprile), otherwise known as April Fools’ Day or Pesce d’Aprile in Italian!

IPA: /aˈpri.le/

A classic prank on Pesce d’Aprile involves taping a paper fish onto another person’s back. The idea is that everyone walks around, asking where the pesce d’aprile is until the unsuspecting victim eventually figures out that he or she is the target. This game is always a hit with the kids!

Le origini del pesce d’aprile non sono certe, anche se sono state avanzate diverse teorie.

The origin of April Fools’ is uncertain, although several theories have been proposed.


Aprile is the fourth month (quarto mese) of the year according to the Julian and Gregorian calendars and consists of 30 days (trenta giorni). As is the case with all months of the year, aprile isn’t capitalised in Italian as it is in English. Its name comes from the Latin Aprilis.

The star sign (segno zodiacale) for those born in aprile is either Ariete (Aries) if you were born between April 1st and April 19th or Toro (Taurus) if you were born after the 19th.


Sign up for a free trial of LingQ (affiliate link), the app I use to improve my Italian vocabulary, and receive an additional 100 LingQs which can be used before needing to upgrade!

Read our full review of LingQ and find out why we love it so much!


Leave a Comment