Italian

American  

[ih-tal-yuhn] / ɪˈtæl yən /

adjective

1. of or relating to Italy, its people, or their language.

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noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Italy, or a person of Italian descent.

2. a Romance language, the language of Italy, official also in Switzerland. It, It., Ital.

Italian British  

/ ɪˈtæljən /

noun

1. 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

2. a native, citizen, or inhabitant of Italy, or a descendant of one

3. See Italian vermouth

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adjective

1. relating to, denoting, or characteristic of Italy, its inhabitants, or their language

Pronunciation

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

Other Word Forms

• Italianesque adjective
• anti-Italian adjective
• half-Italian adjective
• non-Italian adjective
• pro-Italian adjective
• pseudo-Italian adjective

Etymology

Origin of Italian

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

Compare meaning

How does italian compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Italian vs. English sonnet

Example Sentences

An Italian authority is investigating beauty brands Benefit and Sephora after they appeared to adopt a "particularly insidious" marketing strategy of using young influencers to market skincare to children.

From BBC

Like Sabalenka, Italian Sinner is aiming to follow up a victory at Indian Wells with another title in Miami.

From BBC

This altarpiece marks the Italian artist coming into his own at the end of the Renaissance, its vision of Christ after his crucifixion rendered in an expressive, enigmatic style.

From The Wall Street Journal

Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and now Raphael: New York's prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art is dedicating a retrospective to the third of the great masters of the Italian Renaissance.

From Barron's

Italian and eurozone unemployment data for February will also be released on Wednesday.

From The Wall Street Journal