Italianism

American  

[ih-tal-yuh-niz-uhm] / ɪˈtæl yəˌnɪz əm /

noun

1. an Italian practice, trait, or idiom.

2. Italian quality or spirit.

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Italianism British  

/ ɪˈtæljəˌnɪzəm, ɪˈtælɪˌsɪzəm /

noun

1. an Italian custom or style

2. Italian quality or life, or the cult of either

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Other Word Forms

• anti-Italianism noun
• pro-Italianism noun

Etymology

Origin of Italianism

First recorded in 1585–95; Italian + -ism

Example Sentences

All that was essentially Spanish was for the time forgotten, submerged in an imported Italianism.

From The Story of Seville by Hartley, C. Gasquoine (Catherine Gasquoine)

Lord O'Toole would by no means admit of this Italianism: he would make no distinctions: he deemed philosophers altogether a race of beings dangerous and inimical to states.

From Tales and Novels — Volume 04 by Edgeworth, Maria

At any rate the poem contains the whole apparatus of nymphs and satyrs transplanted to Italian landscape and living a life of commingled Hellenism and Italianism.

From Some Forerunners of Italian Opera by Henderson, W. J. (William James)

I have no doubt that sçue is correct, and is an Italianism, saputo having sometimes the sense of prudent or judicious.

From The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Yule, Henry

Ah! the musty base Italianism and neo-Meyerbeerism, the filthy masses of sentiment which are borne on by the torrent!…

From Jean Christophe: in Paris The Market-Place, Antoinette, the House by Cannan, Gilbert