Italian
/ɪˈtæl.jən/ adjective, noun, proper noun
Forms Italians
- adjective Pertaining to Italy. “Italian borders”
- adjective Pertaining to its people or their cultures. “Italian cuisines”
- adjective Pertaining to their language. “Italian verbs”
- adjective (obsolete, not comparable) Using an italic style; italic.
- noun (countable) A person from Italy or of Italian descent. “A tour group of Italians is visiting Westminster Cathedral today.”
- noun (uncountable, cooking) A style of cuisine or individual dishes of or associated with Italy or Italian people. “A: What's for dinner tonight? B: I don't know about you, but I'm ready for some Italian tonight!”
- proper noun The official language of Italy, also spoken in San Marino, the Vatican, and parts of Argentina, Slovenia and Switzerland; various varieties (dialects) exist. “The tour group asked their questions in Italian, and their tour guide translated.”
Synonyms
Italish dago Eyetie Itie goombah greaseball guido guinea macaroni paisan pizzahead pizza nigger spaghetti spic spigotty white negro white nigger wog wop
Etymology
From Middle English Italian, from Medieval Latin Italiānus, from Latin Italia (“Italy”). By surface analysis, Italia + -n.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Of or pertaining to Italy, or to its people or language.
- noun A native or inhabitant of Italy.
- noun The language used in Italy, or by the Italians.
Etymology [Cf. F. italien, It. italiano. Cf. Italic.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “Italian”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details