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Italian

[ ih-tal-yuhn ]
/ ɪˈtæl yən /
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adjective
of or relating to Italy, its people, or their language.
noun
a native or inhabitant of Italy, or a person of Italian descent.
a Romance language, the language of Italy, official also in Switzerland. Abbreviation: It, It., Ital.

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Origin of Italian

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Medieval Latin word Italiānus.See Italy, -an

how to pronounce Italian

The pronunciation of Italian with an initial [ahy] /aɪ/ sound (pronounced like the word eye ) and often with level stress on the first and second syllables: [ahy-tal-yuhn] /ˈaɪˈtæl yən/ is heard primarily from uneducated speakers. This pronunciation is sometimes facetious or disparaging in purpose and is usually considered offensive.

OTHER WORDS FROM Italian

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Italian in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for Italian

Italian
/ (ɪˈtæljən) /

noun
the official language of Italy and one of the official languages of Switzerland: the native language of approximately 60 million people. It belongs to the Romance group of the Indo-European family, and there is a considerable diversity of dialects
a native, citizen, or inhabitant of Italy, or a descendant of one
adjective
relating to, denoting, or characteristic of Italy, its inhabitants, or their language
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
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