Word origins

• contadoThe land controlled by a medieval Italian city-state lying outside the city itself; the hinterland; the countryside under the control of a city.
• contrapuntistOne skilled in counterpoint.
• cornutorOne who makes another person into a cuckold.
• criminyExpressing surprise or impatience.
• dacha-salteeTenpence.
• decetA group of ten musicians; a piece of music written for such a group
• DeFilippoA surname from Italian.
• DeVincentA surname from Italian.
• ditalA finger-operated key for raising the pitch of a guitar by a semitone.
• facilizeTo make something easy; to facilitate.
• fatchaA face.
• fava beanAn edible bean (Vicia faba) native to Africa and Southwest Asia with a long tradition of cultivation.
• ferricadouzerA knockdown blow; a good thrashing.
• festinoA feast or entertainment.
• fiumaraA flooded river (or its riverbed), especially one running down from a mountain.
• FontanillaA surname from Spanish of Spanish and Italian origin.
• FormazzaA village in Vercelli, Piedmont, Italy.
• Fried Liver AttackA common chess opening based on the Two Knights' Defence, characterized by the moves 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Nxf7 Kxf7, in which white sacrifices its king's knight to gain attacking momentum.
• frigatoonA Venetian vessel with a square stern, having only a mainmast, jigger mast, and bowsprit; also a sloop of war ship-rigged.
• galanty showA show performed using silhouettes and shadow puppets.
• garibaldinoA partisan or adherent of Garibaldi; a Garibaldist.
• gazetAn old Venetian coin of little value.
• GelasianPertaining to Pope Gelasius I.
• GhibellineIn the politics of medieval Italian city states, any member of a faction that supported the Holy Roman Emperor in a long struggle against the Guelphs and the Pope.
• GhiblifyTo use generative AI to transform an image into a style resembling the work of Japanese anime studio Studio Ghibli.
• giallolinoNaples yellow, or massicot.
• gigantesqueVery large; like a giant; gigantic.
• giocosoMerry; playful.
• giuseppettiteA trigonal-ditrigonal pyramidal light violet blue mineral containing aluminum, calcium, chlorine, hydrogen, oxygen, potassium, silicon, sodium, and sulfur.
• giustamentein strict tempo
• gondoletA small gondola.
• Grana PadanoA hard, crumbly cheese from the Po river valley in northern Italy.
• granicultureWheat growing.
• gregaleA strong Mediterranean wind blowing from the north-east.
• GuzzettaA surname from Italian.
• harpejjiAn electrophonic string instrument.
• hesperiumA rejected name for plutonium. (Esperium chemical symbol: Es)
• hologenesisA theory of evolution in which each species divides into two, only one of which develops successfully.
• intabulationan arrangement of a vocal or ensemble piece for keyboard, lute, or other plucked string instrument, written in tablature.
• irredentaAny region whose inhabitants are ethnically related to those of another state
• isolaniA queen's pawn with no pawns of the same colour on the adjacent files.
• isoletAn islet.
• jabroniAn obnoxious or contemptible person; a crybaby.
• janissaryAn infantry soldier, often of European Christian background from the Balkans as well as Eastern Europe and forcibly converted to Islam, in a former elite Turkish (Ottoman) guard (disbanded in 1826).
• Jerusalem artichokeA variety of sunflower, Helianthus tuberosus, native to North America, having yellow flower heads and edible tubers.
• jiboneyA low-level tough or thug, a mean man.
• KaraffaA surname from Italian.
• khaziAn outhouse or lavatory: a place used for urination and defecation.
• Kingdom of NaplesA former kingdom in southern Italy with its capital at Naples between 1282 and 1816.
• Kingdom of the Two SiciliesA former kingdom in southern Italy with its capital at Palermo and Naples between 1816 and 1861, covering Sicily and most of the present-day Mezzogiorno.
• LaframentaA surname from Italian.
• lance corporalAn enlisted rank of grade E-3 in the United States Marine Corps, ranking above private first class and below corporal. Abbreviated as LCpl.
• lavoltaAn ancient dance of the Renaissance which incorporated many challenging twists and skips.
• leggiadrousgraceful, elegant
• l'istesso tempoIndicates that the following movement should be played at the same tempo as the last, often employed when switching from simple to compound metres or vice versa, to clarify that the tempo stays the same in reference to the beats felt, not the time signature.
• lumachelA grey form of limestone that contains fossil shells, and reflects a fiery play of colours
• madza caroonA half-crown coin; its value, 30 pence.
• maestro di cappellaA kapellmeister in Italy.
• malfattiA type of hand-rolled dumpling, or gnocchi
• mandocelloA string instrument similar to a large mandolin
• mangarieFood
• mano destraIn musical notation, an instruction for the pianist to use the right hand.
• mantelettaA long silk or woollen vestment, fastened in front, with a low collar and no sleeves, worn by cardinals, bishops, abbots, and the prelates of the Roman court.
• ManzonianOf, pertaining to, or in the style of Alessandro Manzoni (1785–1873), Italian poet and novelist.
• marcantantA merchant.
• Mario AndrettiSomeone who drives fast or recklessly, as if driving a race car.
• mattoidDisplaying erratic behaviour
• MazzieA surname from Italian.
• MerandaA surname from Italian.
• mezza voceModerately loudly
• mezzobrowmiddlebrow
• mezzo pianomoderately soft
• mezzo-rilievohalf-relief; a middle degree of relief in figures, between high and low relief
• miaroliticBeing or pertaining to a crystal-lined irregular cavity or vug most commonly found in granitic pegmatites.
• MichaelinaA female given name.
• mofettaA volcanic discharge of carbon dioxide together with other, mostly smelly, gases
• MogheriniA surname from Italian.
• mondo bizarroThe world of the surreal or bizarre.
• Monte Cristo sandwichA fried sandwich with ham and/or turkey, sometimes battered and often served with fruit and cream.
• MontefiniseA surname from Italian.
• MorosagliaA town and commune of Haute-Corse department, Corsica, France.
• multee kerteverVery bad.
• oboe di cacciaAn obsolete tenor oboe, or rather tenor bassoon.
• ophelimityEconomic satisfaction.
• pagatThe first trump card in a Tarock deck.
• paloneA young woman; a girl.
• Papal StatesA country in southern Europe that existed until 1870, comprising the territories of Italy (and some enclaves in France) over which the pope was the ruler in a civil as well as a spiritual sense.
• pappataci feverA vector-borne febrile arboviral infection caused by three serotypes of Phlebovirus.
• paragrandineAn instrument with a rod, supposed to avert the occurrence of hailstorms.
• Parmigiano-ReggianoParmesan cheese from the Italian DOC of Parma and Reggio Emilia.
• pasquilA pasquin; a lampoon.
• pasquinadeA lampoon, originally as published in public; a satire or libel on someone.
• passymeasureA dance, the passepied.
• pastichioA Greek dish made with cheese, chopped meat and pasta, resembling lasagna.
• penucheA fudge made from brown sugar, butter, milk, and often nuts.
• peperinA volcanic tufa found in the Alban Hills near Rome.
• phelloplasticsThe art of modelling in cork.
• PiacentineOf, from or relating to the city or province of Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
• piatzaMarketplace, meeting place.
• pizzettaA small pizza.