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amoretto

[am-uh-ret-oh; Italian ah-maw-ret-taw]
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noun, plural am·o·ret·ti [am-uh-ret-ee; Italian ah-maw-ret-tee] /ˌæm əˈrɛt i; Italian ˌɑ mɔˈrɛt ti/.
  1. a little cupid.
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Origin of amoretto

1590–1600; < Italian, equivalent to amor(e) love (< Latin amōrem, accusative of amor) + -etto -et; cf. amour
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for amoretti

Historical Examples

  • Mosto reads focine, which is amended by Amoretti to foscine.

    The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XXXIII, 1519-1522

    Antonio Pigafetta

  • Papponi, (of whom Amoretti writes,) a man of such susceptibility, was cured of convulsive attacks by change of place.

  • Amoretti conjectures that Pigafetta means the fusiniere, boats named after Fusine whence people are ferried to Venice.

  • Some of the ‘Amoretti’ were doubtless addressed by Spenser in 1593 to the lady who became his wife a year later.

British Dictionary definitions for amoretti

amoretto

amorino (ˌæmɔːˈriːnəʊ)

noun plural -retti (-ˈrɛtɪ) or -rini (-ˈriːnɪ)
  1. (esp in painting) a small chubby naked boy representing a cupidAlso called: putto
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Word Origin

C16: from Italian, diminutive of Amore Cupid, from Latin Amor Love
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for amoretti

amoretto

n.

1590s, from Italian, literally "little love," a diminutive of amore "love" (see Amy). This word was variously applied to love sonnets, cupids, etc. Also cf. Amaretto.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper