Italianate

American  

[ih-tal-yuh-neyt, -nit, ih-tal-yuh-neyt] / ɪˈtæl yəˌneɪt, -nɪt, ɪˈtæl yəˌneɪt /

adjective

1. Italianized; conforming to the Italian type or style or to Italian customs, manners, etc.

2. Art. in the style of Renaissance or Baroque Italy.

3. Architecture. noting or pertaining to a mid-Victorian American style remotely based on Romanesque vernacular residential and castle architecture of the Italian countryside, but sometimes containing Renaissance and Baroque elements.

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verb (used with object)

Italianated, Italianating

1. to Italianize.

Italianate British  

/ ɪˌtæljəˈnɛsk, ɪˈtæljənɪt, -ˌneɪt /

adjective

1. Italian in style or character

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Other Word Forms

• Italianately adverb
• Italianation noun

Etymology

Origin of Italianate

From the Italian word italianato, dating back to 1560–70. See Italian, -ate ¹

Example Sentences

Bellinger’s actions have afforded us a rare look at the city’s pre-1871 Italianate architecture.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

Hugo Wolf’s short “Italian Serenade,” which opened the program, was here lush and Italianate, while on an early 1950s disc it dances more lightly.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 12, 2025

With nothing more to see outside but other buildings’ walls, it shifted its gaze to its beautiful interior, rich wood paneling and Italianate details borrowed from memories of the Renaissance.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 23, 2023

Set in a glass-enclosed Italianate portico at Wheatleigh, this eight-table restaurant serves multicourse menus crafted by chef Jeffrey Thompson.

From Washington Post • Aug. 5, 2022

The area was half-gentrified now, but it still held old corners and dark alleys, an abandoned burial ground and a church with an Italianate campanile standing guard over the boatyard and the chandlery.

From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman