Did you know that there are an estimated 450,000 words in the Italian language? While that may seem like an insurmountably large number, learners of the language can rest easy: according to the studies of Italian linguist Tullio De Mauro, a mere 7000 of these words are used in 98% of everyday speech and just 2000 make up its core vocabulary.
If you are the type of person who enjoys learning new vocabulary in alphabetical order, we encourage you to download and review this list of 180 Italian words that start with “A”. We’ve made a personal selection of what we feel are the most important nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions and interjections to add to your lexicon. As always, if you feel we’ve forgotten an essential term, let us know in the comments below!
66 Italian Nouns That Start with “A”
Nouns make up the bulk of a language, and the following nouns beginning with A in Italian are certainly used a lot in my experience!
abito – masculine
suit/gown
acqua – feminine
water
agnello – masculine
lamb
agosto – masculine
August
altalena – feminine
swing
amore – masculine
love
anello – masculine
ring
anno – masculine
year
ape – feminine
bee
arancia – feminine
orange
argento – masculine
silver
arte – feminine
art
attore/attrice – masc./fem.
actor/actress
autore/autrice – masc./fem.
author
abbraccio – masculine
hug
abilità – feminine
ability
agenzia – feminine
agency / branch
alba – feminine
dawn
aperitivo – masculine
aperitif
appuntamento – masculine
appointment
aquila – feminine
eagle
armadio – masculine
wardrobe/closet
aspetto – masculine
appearance
attenzione – feminine
attention
augurio – masculine
wish/greeting
azione – feminine
action
affare – masculine
affair/business deal
ala – feminine
wing
attimo – masculine
moment
animale – masculine
animal
alfabeto – masculine
alphabet
agio – masculine
ease/comfort
aragosta – feminine
lobster
aceto – masculine
vinegar
aiuto – masculine
help/aid
aeroplano – masculine
airplane
albero – masculine
tree
amico/a – masc./fem.
friend
anatra – feminine
duck
anguria – feminine
watermelon
appartamento – masculine
apartment
aprile – masculine
April
arcobaleno – masculine
rainbow
aria – feminine
air
ascella – feminine
armpit
automobile – feminine
car
artista – masc./fem.
artist
abitudine – feminine
habit/custom
aeroporto – masculine
airport
altezza – feminine
height
anticipo – masculine
advance/early
antipasto – masculine
appetiser/starter
aquilone – masculine
kite
argomento – masculine
topic/argument
articolo – masculine
article
attesa – feminine
wait
atteggiamento – masculine
behaviour
autostrada – feminine
highway
acquisto – masculine
purchase
ambiente – masculine
environment/space
albicocca – feminine
apricot
aglio – masculine
garlic
asino – masculine
donkey
alligatore – masculine
alligator
acciuga – feminine
anchovy
affitto – masculine
rent
56 Italian Verbs That Start with A
Next up we have the verbs. By learning even half of these Italian verbs that begin with A, you will be well on your way to holding an intelligible conversation with the Italian speakers in your life!
affittare
to rent
amare
to love
aprire
to open
arrivare
to arrive
aspettare/aspettarsi
to wait/to expect
attirare
to attract
avvicinarsi
to approach / to draw near
abbassare
to lower
accorgersi
to realise
aggiungere
to add
allungare
to extend
annullare
to cancel
approfondire
to deepen / delve into
asciugare
to dry
accendere
to turn on
abituarsi
to get used to
appendere
to hang
addormentarsi
to fall asleep
accarezzare
to stroke
acquistare
to purchase
adorare
to adore
annoiarsi
to get bored
approfittare
to take advantage
alzarsi
to stand up/get up
annusare
to smell/sniff
assaggiare
to taste
atterrare
to land
avviare
to start/to launch
aiutare
to help
ammettere
to admit
andare
to go
ascoltare
to listen
attaccare
to attack/to attach
avere
to have
abitare
to live / to reside
accompagnare
to accompany
accettare
to accept
appiccicare
to stick
assistere
to assist/to attend
anticipare
to bring forward / do in advance
aumentare
to increase
avvertire
to warn
apparire
to appear
appoggiare
to support / to lean
allontanare
to move away
abbandonare
to abandon
allacciare
to do up / attach
accogliere
to welcome
aggiornare
to update
apprezzare
to appreciate
assicurarsi
to make sure
ammalarsi
to get sick
arrampicarsi
to climb
arrabbiarsi
to get angry
assomigliare
to look like/resemble
attrarre
to attract
46 Italian Adjectives / Adverbs That Start with A
If you want to add some flare to your speech, it is important to learn a range of basic adjectives and adverbs in Italian. Here are the ones beginning with A that we’d recommend starting with!
abbastanza
enough
abile
skilful
allora
so/then/well
alto
tall
anche
also
appena
as soon as/just/barely
ampio
wide
argentato
silvery
altroché
certainly
attento
careful/attentive
aspro
sour
abituato
used to/accustomed
australiano
Australian
adatto
suitable
agitato
stressed/upset/shaken
amaro
bitter
attualmente
currently
affascinante
fascinating
ansioso
anxious
affatto
absolutely/not at all
aperto
open
acerbo
unripe
antipatico
mean
adesso
now
alcuno
not any/some/a few
almeno
at least
altro
another/different
ancora
again/still/yet
appunto
exactly
arancione
orange
assolutamente
absolutely
appassionato
passionate
avanti
ahead
azzurro
light blue/azure
americano
American
addirittura
even/really
affidabile
trustworthy
altrettanto
as much as/likewise
arrabbiato
angry
asciutto
dry
arrogante
arrogant
appiccicoso
sticky/clingy
altrove
elsewhere/somewhere else
appuntito
pointy
affilato
sharp
affamato
starving
12 Italian Conjunctions / Prepositions / Interjections That Start with A
Last but far from least, we have the Italian conjunctions, prepositions and interjections, all of which play an important role in rendering our speech as natural and native-like as possible. Admittedly, there aren’t all that many that begin with A but the ones that do exist are worth committing to memory.
a
to/in/at
anziché
instead of/rather than
al di là
beyond
altrimenti
otherwise
addosso
on top of/at
accidenti
darn/wow
anzi
actually/rather
affinché
so that
ahimè
alas/dear me
attraverso
through
ahia
ouch
accipicchia
oh my goodness
20 Popular Italian Names That Start with “A”
Ok, ok, who doesn’t love a bit of bonus content? Here we have twenty popular male and female names in Italian that begin with the letter A. Is your name on this list?
Alessio
Antonio
Alessandro
Alberto
Angelo
Aurelio
Adriano
Armando
Alfredo
Amedeo
Alessia
Antonia
Alessandra
Amanda
Allegra
Amelia
Antonella
Aurora
Adele
Anna
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.
