English words from Italian
9 English words with Italian in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
bankrupt
In the 16th century it appears as banke rota and banqueroute, borrowed from Italian banca rotta (“broken bench”) and its adaptation French banqueroute, from banca “moneylender's bench” (see bank) +…
capricious
It is borrowed from Middle French capricieux (“whimsical”), from Italian capriccioso, from Italian capriccio. By surface analysis, from English caprice + -ious.
carnival
It is borrowed from Italian carnevale (partly via French carnaval), an alteration of earlier Italian carnelevare “removal of meat”, from carne “flesh” (Latin carō) + levare “to remove”, from Latin…
disaster
It is borrowed from Middle French desastre, from Italian disastro (“ill-starred”), from pejorative dis- + astro “star”, from Latin astrum (“star”), from Ancient Greek ἄστρον (ástron, “star”)…
fiasco
It comes via French faire fiasco from Italian far fiasco “to make a bottle”, that is, to fail, from Italian fiasco (“bottle, flask”), from Late Latin flascō (“bottle”).
jovial
It is borrowed from Middle French jovial, from Italian gioviale, from Late Latin Ioviālis (“of Jupiter”), from Latin Iovis, Jupiter.
malaria
It is borrowed from Italian malaria, contracted from mala aria “bad air”, from mala, feminine of malo “bad” (from Latin malus), + aria “air”. It was probably first used by the Italian physician…
panache
It is borrowed from Middle French pennache, from Italian pennacchio, from Late Latin pinnāculum (“small wing”), diminutive of Latin pinna “feather, wing”. The modern spelling follows French panache.
quarantine
It is borrowed from Italian quarantina, from Italian quaranta giorni “space of forty days”, from Italian quaranta (“forty”), from Latin quadrāgintā (“forty”). The name comes from the Venetian…