Questions tagged [etymology]
Questions about etymology, i.e. the origin and history of a word. Use this tag for questions regarding the origin of single words. If your question is about the origin and history of a phrase, an idiom or a proverb, please use the tag "phrase-origin".
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Is there some Italian word (including local dialects and languages) looking similar to Romanian "namilă" (maybe descending from Latin animālia)?
I am interested in the etymology of the Romanian word ”namilă”, meaning ”large being”, for which the dictionaries don't favor the animal connotation. But that could simply be because of the ...
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Perché si usava "latino" nel senso di "facile" o "chiaro"?
Rileggendo il canto III del Paradiso dantesco, ho ritrovato queste terzine in cui Dante personaggio si rivolge a Piccarda Donati (grassetto mio):
Ond'io a lei: "Ne' mirabili aspetti
...
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How old, prestigious and popular is/was the Italian word "cicalare"?
I am interested in the etymology of the Romanian verb a cicăli (to make reproaches repeatedly, to nag), which is reported of unknown origin.
That is obviously wrong, given the existence of the Italian ...
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Etymology of the suffix -ino
I don't speak Italian, but if I'm not mistaken, -ino is both a diminutive (e.g. ragazzo ‘boy’ – ragazzino ‘little boy’) and a suffix that creates nationality names (e. g. tunisino means 'Tunisian'). ...
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What's the implied noun in "o la va o la spacca"?
The phrase "o la va o la spacca" means something like English "it's make or break", as I understand it.
What is the noun implied by (I assume) direct object pronoun "la"? ...
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Meaning of "Roccamonfina"
I am hoping to visit Roccamonfina and have been trying to figure out precisely what this name means---but without success. (Perhaps fina is a person's name, and does not mean "fine.")
Can ...
user9807
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Origin of the verb "doppiare" in the nautical slang
I noticed an inconsistency between the English word round and the Italian translation doppiare;
in the nautical slang we use round with the meaning of move/go/pass through a cape;
i.e. round the Cape ...
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Italian Pickled Eggplant
I am of Italian-American descent and Italian was unfortunately not passed down through the generations. However, there are certain recipes that we still make that came from the first generation that ...
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What's the etymology of Italian negative imperative in second person singular?
In Italian, one forms the negative imperative in the second person singular by using the particle "non" with the infinitive: non fare, non parlare etc.
This always baffled me, because the ...
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Does 'in somma' directly descend from the Latin 'ad summum"
One of the favorite Italian filler words, that is, what you say when you're gathering your thoughts, is 'in somma'. It occurs to me that in basically the only text which purports to faithfully ...
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Why is AC Milan's name emphasized on the first syllable, when the city's name is not?
Neither in Italian, nor in Lombard, nor in English (from which the club's name originated), is the name of the city of Milan pronounced with an emphasis on the first syllable. However, the famous ...
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Is there an Italian word resembling Romanian "comoară" (treasure) - like "commare" in the film "I Soliti Ignoti"?
This is about the treasure that the heroes are supposed to steal, hidden in a wall.
tra una camera da pranzo e un locale del Monte di Pietà.
E in questo locale che c'era? La "commare".
Chi?
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Differenza tra mensolina e comodino (e piani rialzati)
Vorrei sapere (anche con delle immagini), che differenza vi è tra comodino e mensolina (e comò).
Lo chiedo perché in cucina vi è un piano rialzato (cosa, con un nome un po' troppo lungo da dire in ...
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Nome di un mobile particolare (nella camera da letto)
Vorrei sapere qual è il nome di questo mobile in italiano.
Quali modi esistono di dare un nome a questo mobile con un significato?
Quali modi esistono di chiamare questo mobile con un nome in modo che,...
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insalata, vegetale e insalata, piatto
In Italiano una classe di vegetali a foglia, commestibili, viene denominata insalata, cosí come viene denominata insalata una classe di piatti in cui spesso, ma non necessariamente (insalata russa, ...
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