bambino
Americannoun
-
a small child or baby.
-
an image of the infant Jesus.
noun
-
informal a young child, esp an Italian one
-
a representation of the infant Jesus
Usage
What does bambino mean? Bambino is the Italian word for a "male child or baby." It can also be used as a nickname or term of endearment for a man more generally.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bambino
1755–65; < Italian, equivalent to bamb ( o ) childish (perhaps originally nursery word) + -ino diminutive suffix
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
She claims she even uses words and mannerisms such as "mamma mia", "bambino" and "si" in conversation without realising it.
From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2024
Michelangelo: I’m lookin’ at your paintings and I gotta say I see no Real diff’rence from the scribbles of a one-armed bambino.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 2, 2020
First, Andrea Pirlo doing the Panenka penalty on the gurning, arms-flapping, Grobbelaar-impersonating Joe Hart, a moment of beauty that was missing only the words: "Ciao, bambino".
From The Guardian ● Jun. 7, 2014
The bambino stopped the orchestra, sternly told the oboist to get back on the track.
From Time Magazine Archive
![]()
Horus in every form of infancy was the loved bambino of the Egyptian women.
From The Religion of Ancient Egypt by Petrie, W. M. Flinders (William Matthew Flinders), Sir
Fran Cornetta shared on Facebook that pastina was the "transition from liquids to solids" for her and all the bambini in her family.
From Salon ● Jan. 11, 2023
The bambini – three boys aged seven, six and four – looked either adorable or a bit of a handful, depending on how much you knew about kids.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 18, 2014
Pinocchio was originally published serially in the weekly Giornale dei bambini, the “newspaper for kids,” where it gained a large following.
From Slate ● Oct. 24, 2011
Every Friday 4,000,000 city dwellers pack baggage and bambini into their cars and, with horns shrieking and clutches crunching, take off for the country to enjoy what they call Il Weekend.
From Time Magazine Archive
![]()
And so off they go, the young men and women and the young families and the little bambini, leaving the old peoples behind to bend for themselves.
From "The Unfinished Angel" by Sharon Creech
![]()
Where bambinos, billy goats and boogeymen curse entire teams.
From Seattle Times ● May 15, 2024
Nine years ago Signer Guiseppe Danise came to the U. S. from Salerno, Italy, under contract with the Metropolitan Opera Company, leaving Signora Danise and two bambinos behind him.
From Time Magazine Archive
![]()
Two of the toughest bambinos in Italy came in: >The biggest political job was given to a man with no political but plenty of military fame, a 37-year-old child of iron named Ettore Muti.
From Time Magazine Archive
![]()
Why do so many bambino-loving Italians find that they cannot afford to have more bambinos?
From Time Magazine Archive
![]()
The shy maidens draw nearer, the boys gather from their noisy game, the bambinos stretch to us from many a sisterly shoulder.
From Bog-Myrtle and Peat Tales Chiefly of Galloway Gathered from the Years 1889 to 1895 by Crockett, S. R. (Samuel Rutherford)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.