Word origins

• pizzetteSynonym of pizzetta (“small pizza”).
• polariTo speak or talk, particularly in slang or cant.
• politicasterA petty politician.
• pollotarianA person who consumes no animal flesh with the exception of chicken or other poultry such as turkey.
• polverineGlassmaker's ashes; a kind of potash or pearlash, brought from the Levant and Syria, used in the manufacture of fine glass.
• pomodoro sauceA simple Italian tomato pasta sauce.
• pozzolanAny material which, when combined with calcium hydroxide, exhibits cementitious properties; often used as an extender with Portland cements.
• pozzolanicHaving the characteristics of pozzolana, a type of volcanic ash used for mortar or for cement which sets under water.
• previdentialIn Italy, of or pertaining to a social security, insurance benefits or a benefit plan.
• promessionThe disposal of human remains by freeze-drying.
• proveditorOne employed to procure supplies, as for an army, a steamer, etc.; a purveyor; one who provides for another.
• PucelliA surname.
• quadraturistA person who paints quadratures.
• quarronsThe body.
• quartereenA farthing.
• quietistA mystic who follows quietism.
• quintoleA group of five notes to be played or sung in the time of three, four or six.
• ragatricotta
• RapinoeA surname from Italian.
• RavennateOf, from, or concerning Ravenna, a major city in Italy.
• recurrencyThe act or process of recurring; recurrence.
• regatteA cravat tied in such a way that two ends of material dangle from the knot.
• relievoRelief (surface carving).
• rigareeParallel scores on a raised band, tear, or collar produced using ridges on the edge of a metal wheel.
• rigatricotta
• rigotricotta
• ritardandoGradually decelerating the tempo of a piece of music, especially at the end of the piece.
• ritornelloA recurring tutti passage in Baroque music for orchestra or chorus.
• Riviera di LevanteThe eastern section of the Italian Riviera, otherwise known as the Levante Riviera, east of Genoa in Liguria, Italy.
• rodomontadoA brag or boast; a rodomontade.
• rule of cossAlgebra.
• salteeA penny.
• salto mortaleA dangerous and daring jump with possibly lethal outcome.
• salumeCured or cooked meat or sausage, especially in the Italian style.
• sardismA set of political and social currents, of a predominantly liberal and progressive nature, which support the administrative and political autonomy of Sardinia from Italy.
• sardistA person who advocates autonomy for Sardinia.
• scacchicOf or relating to chess.
• scarioleSynonym of endive.
• scarparielloAn Italian piquant sauce of crushed tomatoes, basil and cheese.
• scarper the lettyTo depart quickly from a rented place without paying.
• sdeignTo disdain.
• Secchi depthA measure of the turbidity of a body of water; the depth at which a Secchi disk is no longer visible.
• Secchi diskA circular disk used to measure water transparency (and thus turbidity).
• sestetA piece of music composed for six voices or six instruments; a sextet or sestuor.
• sfumatoA painting technique, prominent during the Italian Renaissance, involving the application of subtle layers of translucent paint, blurring the transition between colors, tones and often objects and creating the illusion of depth.
• solfataraAn area of volcanic activity that gives off sulfurous steam.
• sopranino recorderA recorder whose lowest note is F₅ (or otherwise in the range of E♭₅ to G₅).
• spadassinicideThe act of coaxing someone, usually through insult, into initiating a swordsman's duel, and subsequently killing that person with superior skill so as to commit legal murder.
• spetumA medieval long spear with two sharp tapering blades projecting forward at roughly around 45 degrees with the blunt side facing the opponent.
• spiedieA submarine sandwich local to Greater Binghamton in the Southern Tier of New York State, containing grilled marinated cubes of meat.
• sticcadoA musical instrument resembling a xylophone. The bars were made of metal, wood, or glass
• stoccadoA stab with a pointed weapon.
• stramazounA direct descending blow with the sword edge.
• strillersA musical instrument, especially a piano.
• suffioniExhalations of hot sulfurous vapours, common in volcanic regions.
• sussultatoryCharacterised by up-and-down oscillations of large amplitude, usually with reference to earthquakes.
• talleroThe monetary unit of Eritrea from 1890 to 1921, equal to 5 lire.
• tartolda low-pitched double reed musical instrument of the European Renaissance, similar to a rackett, with a bore formed from cylindrical metal tubing bent into a spiral
• testoonAn old Italian silver coin.
• theorboA baroque, double-necked lute having an extra set of open bass strings.
• tomboloA spit of sand linking an island to the mainland (or to another island), formed by longshore drift.
• tosheroonA half-crown coin; its value
• transennaA screen.
• trapuntoA type of quilting producing a raised surface.
• triviataA collection of trivia; a list of trivial information.
• tympanoA kettledrum.
• una cordaIndicating that the player depresses the soft pedal, altering, and reducing the volume of the sound. In many pianos, this results in the hammer striking two strings rather than three as in tre corde. Originally, it would have struck one string, but modern pianos have their strings too close together to achieve a true una corda - the movement of the hammers would result in also hitting the first string of the next note.
• undisonantMaking the noise of waves.
• ventileAny of the nineteen points that divide an ordered distribution into twenty parts, each containing one twentieth of the population.
• viliacoA rascal; a scoundrel.
• viminalOf, pertaining to, consisting of, or producing twigs.
• VinchenzoA male given name.
• vino collapsoCheap but strong wine.
• voltiturn the page
• zaffreCobalt oxide obtained by roasting cobalt ore, used as a blue pigment.