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10 FAMOUS ITALIAN WORDS USED IN ENGLISH

(And no, we don't mean pizza and pasta!)

There are literally hundreds of words in the English language that sound or look similar to their Italian equivalents.

Italian Words used in English: Introduction

Let's take a look at 10 common Italian words in English that arrived through Italian and, for the most part, still resemble Italian in terms of their pronunciation and spelling!

Italian Words used in English: Introduction

Italian: tarantola (plural: tarantole)

1. Tarantula

Entered English in the 16th century. It gets its name from the seaport Taranto, although no species of the tarantula family inhabit the area.

Italian: broccolo (plural: broccoli)

2. Broccoli

Entered English in the mid 17th century. We only ever use the plural form in English!

Italian: panino (plural: panini)

3. Panini

Entered English in the mid 20th century. In Italian, panino is simply the word for "sandwich".

Italian: influenza (plural: influenze)

4. InFLUENZA

Entered English in the 18th century after an influenza epidemic broke out in Italy. It also means "influence" in Italian.

Italian: vulcano (plural: vulcani)

5. Volcano

Entered English in the 17th century from Italian. Note the slight difference in spelling!

Italian: peperone (plural: peperoni)

6. PEPPERONI

Entered English in the early 20th century. Peperone in Italian actually means "bell pepper" whereas what we call "pepperoni" is known as salame piccante.

Italian: ballerina (plural: ballerine)

7. BALLERINA

Entered English in the late 18th century. It refers to any female dancer in Italian. The masculine ballerino also exists.

Italian: minestrone (plural: minestroni)

8. MINESTRONE

In Italian, this word can also mean "hodgepodge" or "mishmash".

Italian: magenta (plural: none)

9. MAGENTA

Entered English in the mid 19th century. The colour is named after the town Magenta in the north of Italy.

Italian: paparazzo (plural: paparazzi)

10. PAPARAZZI

Entered English in the 1960s from the film La Dolce Vita.

Want to learn even more Italian terms used in English? Visit our full article on Daily Italian Words!