Italian Words

ITALIAN WORDS

ALFRESCO - In the open air

ARCADE - A series of arches supported by columns, piers or pillars; common passageway with shops or stalls

ARRIVEDERCI - A farewell remark; goodbye for now

BANDIT - Crook, criminal, brigand

CAMEO - A technique of engraving in relief on gem, stone; a small but noticeable role in a play or a film

CANTO - Any of the principal divisions of a long poem

CAPRICE - Sudden impulsive notion or action; sudden, unpredictable change

CARESS - Gentle affectionate touching or stroking

CARICATURE - Exaggerated representation for comic effect

CARNIVAL - Season or festival or merrymaking

CASINO - A place for gambling

CHE SARA, SARA - Whatever will be, will be

CICERONE - A guide who conducts and informs sightseers

COGNOSCENTE - A person of expert knowledge; connoisseur

DILETTANTE - Amateur, nonprofessional, beginner; a dabbler in fine arts

DOLCE VITA - A life of comfort or luxury and lazy self-indulgence, a life of pleasure and luxury

FIASCO - Failure, disaster

MACARONI A pasta in the form of slender tubes

NEPOTISM - Favouritism based on kinship

PARAPET - A low protective wall or railing along the edge of a roof

PIAZZA - Public square in Italy

PRIMA DONNA - The leading female singer in an opera; vain and temperamental person

REGATTA - A series of boat races

SENTINEL - Guard, picket, sentry

SEQUIN - A small shiny ornamental disc of metal or plastic

SONATA - A musical composition in three or four parts, usually for the piano

SONNET - A 14-line poem with a particular pattern of rhyme

SOTTO VOCE - Very softly so as not to be heard; in an undertone, mutter

SPAGHETTI - A pasta in the form of long strings

STILETTO - A small dagger with tapering blade; woman's shoe with narrow high heel

STUCCO - A plaster for ceilings and walls, which can be formed into decorative patterns

TARANTULA - A large, hairy tropical spider