Noun (Nome)

Italian nouns end in -o, -a, -t, -e and, rarely, in -(t). These ending in -o are
inherited from the Latin Second declension, and those in -a -- from the First
declension. The nouns in -t and -t had formerly longer forms in -tate and -tute and
as the other nouns in -e descended from the Latin Third declension. The
word trib tribe has preserved the -u of the Latin Forth declension, while the other
nouns of this class acquired the ending -o.

See more details in the Declensions in Vulgar Latin.

Nouns of non-Latin origin may have different endings, mainly a consonant or an -i.

Gender of the Nouns (Genere dei Nomi)

As in the other modern Romance languages, the nouns in Italian are either of
masculine or of feminine gender.

Usually, the nouns in -o are masculine and those in -a (-t) are feminine, cf.:

Masculines in -o Feminines in -a (-t)

tavolo table casa house

sviluppo development rosa rose

organismo organism citt city

Notes:

The words eco echo, mano hand and others are feminine. See Feminine
nouns ending in -o.
Many words ending in -a (mainly in -ta and -ma) are masculine; these are
usually of Greek origin. See for details the List of Masculine nouns ending in
-a.
The words in -t ended formerly in -tate.
There are a few feminine nouns, like spia spy, gurdia guard etc., that
refers usually to male persons. See Feminine nouns in -a referring to males.
The nouns in -e may be masculine or feminine. Those referring to males are
masculine and those referring to females are feminine, cf.:

Masculine Feminine

padre father madre mother

imperatore emperor imperatrice empress

... ...

For the nouns that denote inanimate objects gender seems randomly assigned and
it is to be memorized:

Masculine Feminine

amore love arte art

codice code corte court, yard

cuore heart croce cross

giudice judge fede faith

latte milk legge law

mare sea luce light

mese month pace peace

sole sun voce voice

Often the gender may be recognized by the suffixes.

Nouns ending in -tore / -sore (agent; often corresponding to E. -tor, -sor), -

ore (abstract nouns; often corresponding to BE. -our), -ione (agent etc.; often = E.
-ion), -one (augmentative = E. -on) etc. are masculine:

autore author, dittatore dictator;

precursore precursor;

colore colour, onore honor, orrore horror, sapore taste, umore mood,
humour;

campione champion, ladrone brigand;

 cannone cannon, milione million, padrone master, owner.

Nouns ending in -trice (agent), -tudine (corresponding to E. -tude), -zione (-

sione) / -gione (corresponding to E. -tion (-sion) / -son), etc. are feminine:

imperatrice empress;

altitudine height, magnitudine magnitude;

nazione nation, visione vision, ragione reason, stagione season.

Nouns in -t, like giovent youth, servit slavedom, virt virtue etc., are
feminine. The noun trib tribe is masculine.

The nouns of non-Latin origin, ending in consonant,

like film film, sport sport, tram tramway etc., are masculine. The nouns of Greek
origin, ending in -i, like analisi analysis, sintesisynthesis etc., are feminine.

Abbreviated nouns retain the gender of the words from which they are derived.

foto f (from fotografia) picture;

cinema m (from cinematografo) cinema;

moto f (from motocicletta) motorcycle;

auto f (from automobile) car;

bici f (from bicicletta) bike.

For more details see Suffixes of Nouns.

Feminine of the Nouns (Femminile dei Nomi)

Feminine is often obtained from masculine by the alternation -o : -a in the

endings, cf.:

Masculine Feminine

amico friend amica friend

bambino little boy bambina little girl

cugino cousin (he) cugina cousin (she)

 figlio son figlia daughter

maestro master, maestra teacher (femal

teacher e)

orso he-bear orsa she-bear

ragazzo boy ragazza girl

zio uncle zia aunt

The alteration -e : -a also occurs, cf.:

Masculine Feminine

signore mister signora mistress

padrone master, owner padrona mistress of the

house

Feminine can be derived through suffixation:

Suffix Change Examples

Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine

poeta poet poetessa poetess

-|a -|essa

principe prince principessa princess

-|e

-|o patrono patron patronessa patroness

eroe hero eroina heroine

-|e -|ina

gallo cock gallina hen

-|o
 direttore director direttrice manageress
-|tore -|trice

Sometimes masculine and feminine are derived from different (or modified) roots:

Masculine Feminine

frate friar suora nun

fratello brother sorella sister

padre father madre mother

padrino godfather madrina godmother

uomo man donna woman

... ...

becco / capro he-goat capra she-goat

bove / toro bull mucca / vacca cow

montone ram pecora sheep

papero gander papera / anatra goose

paperone drake oca duck

porco / verro boar scrofa / troia female

swine

See the List of Masculine and feminine nouns of different roots.

Nouns of common gender (Nomi di genero commune)

These are nouns with one form for both genders. Here are included:

1. All the nouns suffixed by -ista, cf.:

artista artist

giornalista journalist

pianista pianist
 turista tourist etc.

2. Some other nouns, like:

camerata comrade amante lover martire martyr

compatriota compatr cliente client nipote nephew, nie

iot ce
commerciante trad
eresiarca heresiarch er rivale rival

idiota idiot consorte consort testimone witness

omicida murderer erede heir etc.

patriot(t)a patriot interprete interpret

er

See also Nouns of common gender in -a.

Nouns of epicene gender (Nomi de genero epiceno)

These are nouns having but one form to indicate either sex. The natural sex is
indicated by the adjectives maschio male and femmina female:

l'acquila (maschio / femmina) eagle

la cicogna (maschio / femmina) stork

il serpente (maschio / femmina) snake

la volpe (maschio / femmina) fox.

See also Homonyms of different gender with different meaning.

Plural of the Nouns (Plurale dei Nomi)

Generally, the plural is derived according to the following rules:

. Endings Examples
. Sg. Pl. Singular Plural

-|o -|i letto bed letti beds

-|a -|e donna woman donne women

-|e -|i leone lion leoni lions

-|t unchanged citt city citt cities

-|t unchanged virt virtue virt virtues

-| unchanged (un) caff (one) coffey (due) caff (two) coffeys

-|i unchanged analisi analysis analisi analyses

[cons.] unchanged tram tramway tram tramways

Note:
Nouns ending with an accented vowel or a consonant do not change in the plural,
nor do the abbreviated words.

caff : due caff

film : due film

foto : due foto

In these cases the plural is recognized by external indicators, as articles, pronouns

etc, cf.:

il trib : i trib, l'analisi : gli analisi,

la citt : le citt, la virt : le virt.

Phonetic and Orthographic Particularities
(Particolarit Fonetiche ed Ortografiche)

. Endings Examples

. Sg. Pl. Singular Plural

-|ico -|ici amico friend (he) amici friends

-|ica -|iche amica friend (she)
amiche friends

-|co -|chi casco helmet

caschi helmets

-|go -|ghi lago lake

laghi lakes

-|ga -|ghe paga salary

paghe salaries

-|cia -|ce faccia face facce faces

-|ca -|cie farmacia drugstore farmacie drugstores

-|io -|i operaio worker (he) operai workers

-|o -|ii zio uncle zii uncles

-|ia -|ie operaia worker (she) operaie workers

Irregular Plural Forms (Forme Irregolari di Plurale)

The noun uomo man has irregular plural form: uomini men.

The words of common gender in -a have different forms for masculine and feminine
in plural, cf.:

atleta athlete (male /

female) : atleti athletes (males), atlete athletes (females)
 collega colleague (male / female) : i colleghi colleagues (males), le
colleghe colleagues (females)

A few masculine nouns in -o, which were of neuter gender in Latin, form plural in -
a and change their gender to feminine, cf.:

centinaio (il) hundred : centinaia (le) hundreds

uovo (l') egg : uova (le) eggs

See the List of Masculine nouns with plural forms in -a.

A greater number of masculine nouns in -o have two forms in plural: one in -

i (masculine) and another in -a (feminine); these nouns are also inherited from the
Latin neuter gender. Often the forms in -a (historically more archaic) is preserved in
idiomatic expressions, but sometimes the different plural forms are associated with
change in the meaning, cf.:

grido scream : gridi screams and grida screams

labbro lip; edge : i labbri edges and le labbra lips

For more details see Nouns of two plurals.

Nouns of Greek origin (Nomi d'origine Greca)

The nouns of Greek origin tend to preserve the gender they have in Greek (the
nouns of neuter gender being classified as masculine). Thus:

The nouns suffixed by -ma and -ta are masculine, cf.:

tema theme, topic, programma program;

poeta poet, profeta prophet, diploma diplome etc.

They form plural in -i, cf.:

tema : temi, programma : programmi etc.

poeta : poeti, profeta : profeti, diploma : diplomi etc.

See also the List of Masculine nouns ending in -a.

Note that the words ending in -ma and -ta of Latin origin are regularly feminine, cf.:

fiamma flame, casta caste

The nouns suffixed by -si are feminine:

crisi crisis, ipotesi hypothesis, sintesi synthesis, tesi thesis etc.

In plural they remain unchanged.

The separate treating of the Greek words was inherited from the Classical Latin
where they had a declination pattern of their own.

Pluralia tantum

These are nouns used in plural only. The most important between them are:

annali (gli) annals narici (le) nostrils

baf (i) moustache nzze (le) wedding, nuptials

calzni (i) slacks occhiali (gli) glasses, spectacles

dimissini (le) resignation rdini (le) reins

dintrni (i) environs, surroundings spzie (le) spices

frie (le) vacation, holidays tenglie (le) pliers, tongs

frbici (le) scissors tnebre (le) darkness

gemlli (i) twins vveri (i) victuals

See a List with more details.

Some geographical names are used in plural only:

le Ande the Ands

le Alpi the Alps

le Antille the Antilles

gli Appennini the Apennines

le Baleari the Balearic Islands

i Carpazi the Carpathians

Singularia tantum

These are nouns used in singular only. The most important between them are:

1. The proper names: Giovanni John, Maria Mary, Roma Rome, Italia Italy etc.

2. Nouns, designating objects and phenomena unique in themselves, such as:

il sole sun

la luna moon

il sud south

il nord north

l'orizzonte horizon

3. Nouns, designating substances, materials, products etc.:

il latte milk

il carbone coal

il frumento wheat

If used in plural, they denote types, kinds or separate peaces.

4. Abstract nouns, denoting quality, action or state:

la gioia joy

l'onore honor

lo sviluppo development

l'ingratitudine ingratitude

l'orgoglio pride

5. Nouns implying a total plurality.

6. The nouns suffixed by -ismo and the names of the sciences, as:

l'impressionismo impressionism

la medicina medicine (medical science)

 la biologia biology.

Nouns of common gender in -a

Many words in -a (usually in -ista) may be either masculine or feminine. Here

below is a short list of most common among them:

Noun Meaning Noun Meaning Noun Meaning

comunist
abortista abortionist a communist iconolatra follower of iconolatry
cosmon
acrbata acrobat uta cosmonaut idolatra idolater
apstata apostate dentista dentist ipcrita hypocrite
apprendis trainee, macchinist
ta apprentice dspota despote a engineman
economis
artista artist ta economist modellista dress designer
astronut elettricist one who commits
a astronaut a electrician omicida homicide
paracaduti
autista autist eresiarca heresiarch sta parachuter
estremist
basista finger woman a extremist procccia courier
cambista currency dealer falangista falangist stratga strategist
camionist one who commits
a truck driver fascista fascist suicida suicide
camorrist camorra giornalist
a member a journalist terrorista terrorist
iconoclas
carrista tank crewman ta iconoclasta violinista violinist

Feminine nouns ending in -o

A few feminine nouns end in -o:

Noun Meaning Noun Meaning

 uto (una) car mto (una) motocycle

dnamo (una) dynamo pallavolo (la) volleyball

co (una) echo pallacanestro (la) basketball

*
libido (la) libido rdio (una) radio

mano (una) hand vrago (una) virago

*
mtro (la) underground, subway

The words marked by asterisk (*) change their meanings if used in

masculine. See Homonyms of different gender with different meaning.

A few personal names in -o are also feminine:

Altto

Calipso

ro

Saffo

There are also some masculine nouns used exclusively for women:

contralto (il) contralto

mezzosoprano (il) mezzo-soprano

soprano (il) soprano

Masculine nouns ending in -a

Greek words in -ma

Noun Meaning Noun Meaning

aforisma (l) aphorism glaucma (un) glaucoma

amalgama (l) amalgam idima (un) idiom

article (in a
arma (un) arome lmma (un) dictionary)

assima (un) axiom marasma (il) marasmus

autma (un) robot, automaton miasma (il) miasma

carcinma (un) carcinoma morfema (il) morpheme

carisma (un) charisma panorama (il) panorama

cataclisma (il) cataclysm paradigma (il) paradigm

cnema (un) cinema patema (il) worry, anxiety

pentagramma
clima (un) climate (un) pentagram

coma (il) coma, corpor plasma (il) plasma

comma (il) paragraph, comma poma (un) poem

cromosoma (il) chromosome prisma (un) prism

diadma (un) diadem problma (un) problem

diaframma (il) diaphragm programma (un) program
 dilmma (un) dilemma reuma (il) rheum

diplma (un) diploma schema (il) scheme

dogma (il) dogma politeama (il)

*
dramma (un) drama scisma (uno) schism

elettrocardiogram
ma (un) electrocardiogram sistma (un) system

ematma (un) hematoma sofisma (il) sophism

emblma (un) emblem stmma (uno) emblem, coat of arms

encefalogramma
(un) encephalogram stigma (il) stigma

stratagmma
enfisema (l) emphysema (uno) stratagem

enigma (un) enigma telegramma (un) telegram

*
enzima (un) enzym tma (un) theme, topic

fantasma (un) phantasm teorma (un) theorem

fibrma (un) fibroma truma (un) trauma

fonma (un) phoneme

Greek words in -ta

 Noun Meaning Noun Meaning

ascta (un) ascetic pota (un) poet

pilta (un) pilot profta (un) prophet
pirata (un) pirate

The words in -arca The words in -cida

Noun Meaning Noun Meaning

gerarca (un) chieftain, leader acaricida (un) acaricide

monarca (un) monarch germicida (il) germicide
patriarca (un) patriarch spermicida (uno) spermicide

Other words

Noun Meaning Noun Meaning

abracadabra *
(un) unintelligible language Grappa (il) mount north of Padua
the beyond, the other
aldil (l') guardaroba (il) wardrobe
world

* alma (un) draughts (game) * lama (un) lama (buddhist monk)

arciduca (un) archduke madera (il) madeira (a kind of wine)

magic force (polynesian

bagnasciuga (il)waterline mana (un)
cult)

bagnomaria (il) vapor bath maragi (un) maharaja

infantile person (dial.)

* bamba (un) marsala (il) a kind of wine

uncle (dial.)
* barba (un) messa (un) messiah
 barbanra (un) man of black beard pnama (un) straw hand-plaited hat

battistrada (il) outrider pap (un) father

barbera (il) a kind of wine ppa (un) pope

* ba (un) boa (snake) parabrezza (un) windscreen, windshield

bia (un) executioner parapiglia (il) turmoil, bustle

* cccia (un) fighter (aircraft) parapioggia (il) umbrella

parasite, hanger-on,
* camerata (un) comrade, buddy parassita (il)
freeloader

capolinea (il) terminus, terminal pasci (un) pasha

passamontagna
* cappa (un) kappa (Greek letter) woolen hood
(un)

hymn addressed to
carovita (il) cost of living peana (un)
Apollo

cavalcavia (il) overpass * pianta (un) planet

great turmoil,
colera (il) cholera pigia pigia (il)
commotion

cbra (un) cobra (snake) pigiama (un) pajamas

a chief magistrate
* commnda (un) knighthood (title) podest (un)
(hist.)

crocevia (il) crosss-road portafortuna (il) amulet

cruciverba (il) crosswords proclama (il) manifesto

 dada (un) dadaist promemoria (il) memorandum

dlta (un) delta retrobottega (il) back-shop

doposcuola (il) study hall retroterra (il) hinterland

scioglilingua
dormiveglia (il) slumber tongue twister
(lo)

duca (un) duke sof (il) sofa

entroterra (il) hinterland * sma (un) soma

faccia a faccia
face-to-face ssia (un) double, twin
(il)

gag (un) luxury lover toccasana (il) panacea, cure-all

trumpeter (military
gemetra (un) a specialist in geometry * trombtta (un)
slang)

gesuta (un) Jesuit * vglia (un) dignity, grandeur

gorgonzola (il) a kind of cheese valpolicella (il) a kind of wine

gorilla (un) gorilla voltafaccia (il) turnabout

* grana (un) cheese of North Italy

The words marked by asterisk (*) change their meanings if used in

feminine. See Homonyms of different gender with different meaning.
The names of the following countries are also masculine:

Canada (il)

Guatemala (il)

Nicaragua (il)

Panama (il)

Venezuela (il)

Masculine and feminine nouns of different roots

Often the masculine and feminine forms of the nouns for persons and animals
differ in their endings only. There are, however, nouns whose masculine and
feminine forms are derived from different (or modified) roots. The most
important examples are listed bellow:

Masculine Meaning Feminine Meaning

abate (l') abbey badessa (la) abbess

babbo (il) dad, daddy mamma (la) mum, mummy
bcco (il) he-goat capra (la) she-goat
bue (il) ox mucca (la) cow
cane (il) dog cagna (la) dog (she)
cavalire (il) rider cavallerizza (la) rider
cavalire (il) knight (title) dama (la) dame (title)
clibe (il) single nubile (la) single, maiden
compare (il) godfather comare (la) godmother
dio (il) god dea (la) goddess
frate (il) friar suora (la) nun
fratllo (il) brother sorella (la) sister
gnero (il) son-in-law nuora (la) daughter-in-law
maiale (il) pig, swine scrofa (la) sow
marito (il) husband moglie (la) wife
mschio (il) male femmina (la) female
messre (il) mister madonna (la) madame
montne (il) ram pecora (la) sheep
padre (il) father madre (la) mother
padrino (il) godfather madrina (la) godmother
papero gander anatra goose
paperone drake oca duck
patrno (il) patron matrona (la) matron
prco (il) swine, pig, hog scrofa (la) sow
prte (il) priest monaca (la) nun
 r (il) king regina (la) queen
scpolo (lo) bachelor zitella (la) bachelor (she)
stregne (lo) wizard, magician strega (la) witch
tro (il) bull vacca (la) cow
umo (l') man donna (la) woman

Feminine nouns in -a referring to males

There are a few feminine nouns in -a that refer to male persons exclusively:

birba loafer, idler

gurdia watcher, guard

guida manager, rudder, scoutmaster, leader

mschera visor, mask, costume

rcluta rookie, recruit, trainee

sentinlla lookout, sentinel, sentry

spia spy, sneak

vedtta lookout-post