Italian Word of the Day: Odierno (of today, current)

Today we’re going to be looking at odierno, an adjective that you will regularly encounter once you begin reading the advanced texts such as the news or academic papers. It literally means “relevant to the current day, age or era” and in English, it would generally translate as of today, today’s, current or modern.

/o·dièr·no/
italian word odierno

Odierno comes from the Latin hodiernus, which in turn derives from hodie (meaning ‘today’).

Because odierno is an adjective, its form changes in accordance with the gender and/or plurality of the subject it describes:

  • odierno = masculine, singular
  • odierna = feminine, singular
  • odierni = masculine, plural
  • odierne = feminine, plural

La lezione odierna è posticipata fino a nuovo avviso.

Today’s lesson is postponed until further notice.


busy train station
La società odierna è frenetica. = Today’s society is frenetic.

Here are a few common examples of how odierno can be used in context:

  • le tecnologie odierne = modern technology
  • la situazione odierna = the current situation
  • gli appuntamenti odierni = today’s appointments
  • l’odierno bollettino meteorologico = today’s weather report

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