Italian word of the day
| Pronunciation | |
| English translation | Squid |
| Origin | From the Latin word calamarium because of its black ink |
Different forms of calamaro
Like most nouns in Italian, calamaro has two articles (definite or indefinite articles) and two numbers (singular or plural).
Un calamaro
A squid
Dei calamari
Some squids
Il calamaro
The squid
I calamari
The squids
Examples
| Quante braccia ha un calamaro? | How many arms does a squid have? |
| Both squids and chameleons can change color. | Sia i calamari che i camaleonti possono cambiare colore. |
| Qual è il nome scientifico del calamaro gigante? | What is the scientific name of the giant squid? |
Polpo, seppia, piovra
Polpo is the Italian translation for octopus. It’s a masculine word.
| Il polpo | The octopus |
| Il polpo si avvolse intorno alla sua preda. | The octopus wrapped itself around its prey. |
The Italian translation for cuttlefish is seppia, a feminine word. This is the word you will need to use to say squid ink: nero di seppia, “cuttlefish black”. We don’t actually say nero di calamaro.
| La seppia | The cuttlefish | |
| Il nero di seppia | The squid ink |
| Le seppie si possono acquistare al mercato del pesce. | Cuttlefish can be bought at the fish market. |
Then there’s piovra, which is the translation for giant squid. Sometimes you will see piovra gigante, which is the same animal. This is a feminine word.
| La piovra gigante | The giant squid |
| Il kraken è un tipo di piovra gigante. | The Kraken is a kind of giant squid. |
Dishes with “molluschi”
Cuttlefish, octopuses and squids are called molluschi in Italian, mollusks.
| Il mollusco | The mollusk |
The risotto al nero di seppia, the squid ink risotto, is a very famous dish in Italy.
| Il risotto al nero di seppia | The squid ink risotto |
Another very common dish with cuttlefish is the fritto misto, also known as frittura di paranza (page in Italian): crunchy, savory, fried pieces of flying squid (totano), cuttlefish and shrimps (gamberetti). It’s simply delicious and makes my mouth water just writing about it!
Fritto misto literally translates to “mixed fried”.
| Il fritto misto | The fritto misto | |
| La frittura di paranza | The frittura di paranza |
More free Italian resources
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