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Italianism

American  
[ih-tal-yuh-niz-uhm] / ɪˈtæl jəˌnɪz əm /

noun

  1. an Italian practice, trait, or idiom.

  2. Italian quality or spirit.


Italianism British  
/ ɪˈtæljəˌnɪzəm /

noun

  1. an Italian custom or style

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

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of Italianism

First recorded in 1585–95; Italian + -ism

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:

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 W. J. (William James) Henderson

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

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

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 Henry Yule

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 Maria Edgeworth

In recent years the Italian poet has abandoned his native land, living in Paris, writing his last work in French, having apparently exiled himself for the rest of his life and renounced his former Italianism.

From The World Decision by Robert Herrick

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