Spanish words from Italian
9 Spanish words with Italian in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
alerta
It is borrowed from Italian all'erta, literally “on the height”, a phrase built on erta (“ascent, slope”), the noun use of erto (“raised, steep”), originally the participle of the old verb ergere…
bolsa
1. The word for the bag is inherited from Old Spanish bolsa, inherited from Late Latin bursa (“hide; leather bag, purse”). Corominas calls it semi-learned or a late arrival: as a fully popular word…
brillar
It is borrowed from Italian brillare (“to whirl, to quiver; to shine”), a poetic Italianism that came into Spanish in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Corominas notes that it is still missing…
ducha
It is borrowed from French douche, which is from Italian doccia (“water pipe; shower”). Corominas takes the Italian noun as a back-formation from doccione (“large pipe”), from Latin ductiō…
escuadrón
Corominas thinks it is probably borrowed from Italian squadrone, which is found in Machiavelli and which also gave French escadron at the end of the 15th century. The DLE and Wiktionary instead…
estrada
It is inherited from Old Spanish estrada, inherited from Late Latin strāta (“paved road”), short for via strāta (“paved way”). The participle strātus belongs to sternō (“to spread out, strew”). The…
modelo
It is borrowed from Italian modello, which comes from Vulgar Latin *modellus, a diminutive of Latin modulus (“small measure; rhythm”) and synonymous with it. The Latin word is in turn a diminutive…
novela
It is borrowed from Italian novella (“news; short tale”). The Italian word is from Vulgar Latin *novella, the neuter plural of Latin novellus (“new, young”) taken as a feminine singular, “new…
valija
It is borrowed from Italian valigia, a word of uncertain origin, perhaps pre-Roman. French valise and German Felleisen were taken from Italian too. Corominas finds it late in Spanish, and suggests…