gelato
Americannoun
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gelati,
plural
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gelatos
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of gelato
First recorded in 1930–35; from Italian: literally “frozen,” noun use of past participle of gelare “to freeze,” from Latin gelāre
Explanation
Gelato is a dense, rich Italian ice cream. In the summertime, gelato is an especially delicious frozen treat. In Italian, gelato means "to freeze." Just like ice cream, gelato is made by combining and freezing cream, milk, flavoring, and sugar. Gelato has less butterfat and less air mixed into it than ice cream, and it's served at a warmer temperature. These things give gelato a depth of flavor that ice cream doesn't quite have. Try ordering some traditional gelato flavors like nocciola (hazelnut) or castagna (chestnut) the next time you're at a gelateria!
Vocabulary lists containing gelato
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:
Elsewhere, chain gelato brand Snowflake makes a sweetcorn-flavoured "Snow Cob", while more mainstream, high-end supermarkets and chocolate brands are selling corn kernels covered in chocolate.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
In fact, she was treating herself daily to gelato and centering carbs at every meal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Monte started a private business 25 years ago using his Italian roots — gelato, a frozen dessert.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2026
Outside, under the warm April sunshine, groups of joyous African pilgrims in flashy head wraps ate gelato by the Bernini fountain, seagulls circling overhead.
From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2025
He could fly her to Italy and get fancy gelato.
From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty
“People talked a lot about what they ate and cooked when they were with their families all day,” said Ms. Rogers, 73, over antipasti, ravioli and gelati at the recently reopened River Cafe.
From New York Times ● Sep. 20, 2021
I’d have a gelati with strawberry watermelon shaved ice, vanilla custard and then shaved ice again.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 11, 2021
In between savory courses, Bulgarini’s obsession with flavor pairings reveals itself in a curious parade of wine-splashed gelati.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2019
For dessert at Misi, there is only gelati, the pasta of dolci, six different flavors, including a wonderfully powerful espresso.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 23, 2018
The musicians were concealed in the “snuggery,” playing airs from favorite operas, while waiters from Doney’s served gelati and paste and champagne at little tables scattered throughout the garden.
From The Spell by William Dana Orcutt
What came to mind was not the city itself, but the many gelatos that Falconer’s spunky picture-book heroine Olivia eats before and after her family’s travails on their sinking gondola while in the Italian city.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 10, 2023
It’s a bracing, even exhilarating change from the usual creamy, dense chocolates or gelatos that litter most restaurant dessert menus.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 18, 2022
Additionally, ice cream or gelatos made with homemade cookie dough or brownies, for example, will likely drive the price up because they're labor-intensive and therefore, expensive to produce.
From Salon ● Mar. 2, 2022
Fuelled by two giant gelatos we're well over the two-hour mark into an interview for the BBC TV documentary Free Spirits.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2022
According to Dr. Luce, the gene first appeared in my bloodline sometime around 1750, in the body of one Penelope Evan- gelatos, my great-grandmother to the ninth power.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
