There isn’t an exact one-word translation in English for the Italian word refrigerio, but it can be best described as ‘relief from the heat’.
It comes from the Latin refrigerium, a derivative of refrigerare meaning ‘to refrigerate / become cold’.
Refrigerio is a masculine noun, and its plural is refrigeri.
un refrigerio
il refrigerio
dei refrigeri
i refrigeri
You can experience refrigerio by entering a cool cave after walking for hours in the hot sun, drinking a cold glass of water, or lathering a cool cream onto sunburnt skin for example.
Abbiamo apprezzato la vista sul mare e il refrigerio della brezza marina.
We enjoyed the sea view and the refreshing coolness of the marine breeze.
Finalmente arriva un po’ di refrigerio dopo tanti giorni di caldo soffocante.
Finally some relief is coming after many days of sweltering heat.
More generally, refrigerio can refer to any kind of physical relief or psychological comfort. Often it is used in literary or written form. For example:
- parole di refrigerio = comforting words
- refrigerio al proprio dolore = relief from one’s pain
- refrigerio serale = evening relaxation
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.
