gelato

ge·la·to
G2E1L1A1T1O1
US/d͡ʒəˈlɑtoʊ/UK/dʒəˈlɑːtəʊ/

noun

An Italian variant of ice cream made from milk and sugar, combined with other flavourings. The ingredients are supercooled while stirring to break up ice crystals as they form.

OriginItalian gelato ← Latin gelātus ← Proto-Indo-European *gel- →
Less commonScrabble 7
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

noungelato (usually uncountable, plural gelati or gelatos)

plural gelati · plural gelatos · alternative Australia gelati

  1. uncountableusuallyAn Italian variant of ice cream made from milk and sugar, combined with other flavourings. The ingredients are supercooled while stirring to break up ice crystals as they form.

    Now the area has been remade in their image. Every other storefront seems to be a coffee shop, a gelato shop, or a med spa.

    2025 May 5, Brock Colyar, “It Must Be Nice to Be a West Village Girl”, in New York, archived from the original on 19 May 2025

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*gel-“cold”
  2. Latingelātus
  3. Italiangelato“ice cream”
  4. Englishgelato

Borrowed from Italian gelato (“ice cream”), from Latin gelātus, derived from gelū (“frost, chill”), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“cold”).

More words from Italian, Latin, Proto-Indo-European

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic جِيلَاتِي, جِيلَاتُو
  • جِيلَاتِي (jīlātī)Italian-style ice cream
  • جِيلَاتُو (jīlātū)Italian-style ice cream
Bulgarian джела́то
  • джела́то (dželáto)Italian-style ice cream
Catalan gelat, gelat italià
  • gelatItalian-style ice cream
  • gelat italiàItalian-style ice cream
Chinese Cantonese 意式雪糕
  • 意式雪糕 (ji³ sik¹ syut³ gou¹)Italian-style ice cream
Chinese Mandarin 意大利冰淇淋
  • 意大利冰淇淋 (Yìdàlì bīngqílín)Italian-style ice cream
Dutch Italiaans ijs
  • Italiaans ijsItalian-style ice cream
Finnish gelato, jäätelö
  • gelatoItalian-style ice cream
  • jäätelöItalian-style ice cream
  • italialainen jäätelöItalian-style ice cream
French gelato, glace à l'italienne
  • gelatoItalian-style ice cream
  • glace à l'italienneItalian-style ice cream
Greek τζελάτο
  • τζελάτο (tzeláto)Italian-style ice cream
Hebrew גֶ׳לָאטוֹ
  • גֶ׳לָאטוֹ (jeláto)Italian-style ice cream
Hindi जेलातो
  • जेलातो (jelāto)Italian-style ice cream
Indonesian gelato
  • gelatoItalian-style ice cream
Italian gelato, gelato italiano
  • gelatoItalian-style ice cream
  • gelato italianoItalian-style ice cream
  • gelato all'italianaItalian-style ice cream
Japanese ジェラート
  • ジェラート (jerāto)Italian-style ice cream
Korean 젤라토
  • 젤라토 (jellato)Italian-style ice cream
Polish gelato
  • gelatoItalian-style ice cream
Romanian gelato
  • gelatoItalian-style ice cream
Russian джела́то, жела́то
  • джела́то (dželáto)Italian-style ice cream
  • жела́то (želáto)Italian-style ice cream
Swedish gelato
  • gelatoItalian-style ice cream
Thai เจลาโต
  • เจลาโต (jee-laa-dtoo)Italian-style ice cream
Turkish Roma dondurması, gelato
  • Roma dondurmasıItalian-style ice cream
  • gelatoItalian-style ice cream

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with gelato

tomatolegatoGuanajuatovibratostaccatoarigatomacchiatoLovatoannatto
All rhymes →

Anagrams

legatoGoleta
Cite this entry
APA

gelato. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gelato

MLA

“gelato.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gelato. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gelato,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gelato.

Source: gelato on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.