Spaghetti is not the only word in Italian

An Italian dictionary isn’t a dictionary that will mention only the terms spaghetti and Italian sausage. It can list Italian words or translate into Italian.

There are web sites with an Italian dictionary. Remember that Italian only has 21 letters - J, K, W, X and Y are missing. Italian words won’t include those letters.

Here’s some words from the Italian dictionary. The a’s include abate which means abbot. This isn’t one half of a comedy team but rather the head of a monastery. Christianity and many other religions use the term. The title is also used to describe anyone who lives in a monastery.

Antarctico is also in the Italian dictionary. The English translation is Antarctic. It’s Earth’s south most continent. It’s on the South Pole. The Greek word from which it comes means opposite of the north. It’s good information.

An Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959. It’s now been ratified by 46 countries. The treaty prohibits military action in the Antarctic. It also prohibits mineral mining. The treaty was made to protect the ecology in the area, as well as to promote scientific research. Currently more than 4000 scientists conduct research there. That information would more likely be found in an Encyclopedia.

Mafia isn’t a word in the Italian dictionary. Malavita is in there. It means underworld. The Italian Mafia is also known as the Cosa Nostra. It’s Sicily’s secret society. Its development was sometime in the mid-19th century. The organization followed the Sicilians to the East Coast. Mafia has changed to refer to Italian organized crime in general, rather than just Sicilians.

Autoritratto is found in the Italian dictionary. That is self portrait in English. Auto is a root meaning self. The automobile moves on its own.

A lot can be learned looking through an Italian dictionary. That’s because the Italian language contains many of the groups we use for our English words, taken from the Latin or Greek.

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