A spuntino in Italian can be defined as a quick, light snack eaten either between main meals or in place of one of them. According to Treccani, its etymology is unknown, whereas Il Devoto–Oli maintains that it derives from the word spunto.
Spuntino is a masculine noun, and the plural is spuntini.
lo spuntino
uno spuntino
gli spuntini
degli spuntini
To have a snack translates as fare uno spuntino.
Sto morendo di fame! A pranzo ho fatto solo uno spuntino.
I’m starving! I only had a snack for lunch.
What is the difference between a spuntino and the classic merenda, you might ask?
Well, merenda is a more substantial afternoon snack, usually consumed between 4pm and 5pm, whereas a spuntino is lighter and may be consumed at any time of the day. For example, you can have uno spuntino di metà mattina (a mid-morning snack) or uno spuntino di mezzanotte (a midnight snack).
Ho ancora fame. Quasi quasi mi faccio uno spuntino di mezzanotte!
I’m still hungry. I might just have a midnight snack!
You may also have encountered the word stuzzichino, a light and salty snack whose purpose is to whet the appetite before a meal. They are generally served in bars as a side dish to an aperitivo (aperitif) or eaten at home as an antipasto (starter).
Oh, and you may also hear Italians use the English word snack, but pronounced /znɛk/ instead of /snæk/!
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.
