Cucchiaio

Italian word of the day

Origin	From the Latin word cochlearium, “snail”
Translation	Spoon
IPA pronunciation	/kuˈkkjaːjo/

Different forms of cucchiaio

Like most nouns in Italian, cucchiaio has two articles (definite or indefinite articles) and two numbers (singular or plural).

Examples

Di solito mangiamo con coltello, forchetta e cucchiaio.
We usually eat with a knife, fork and spoon.

Adele immerge il cucchiaio nella zuppa.
Adele dips her spoon in the soup.

Ho comprato una dozzina di cucchiai e due dozzine di forchette.
I bought a dozen spoons and two dozen forks.

Related words

Cucchiaino is the diminutive form of cucchiaio (the -ino suffix in Italian makes things smaller).

While you would normally use a cucchiaio to eat soup, you will use a cucchiaino to eat ice cream or stir tea.

Quali sono i cibi che si mangiano di solito con un cucchiaino?
What are some of the foods you usually eat with a small spoon?

Dove hai messo tutti i cucchiaini?
Where did you put all the spoons?

Another translation for small spoon you can use is cucchiaietto, but it is not as common as cucchiaino which is the standard form.

Cucchiaione is the opposite of cucchiaino, as it means big spoon. It can also be used to translate big spoonful in colloquial language.

It is also a synonym for ladle, which is more commonly translated as mestolo.

Si può inghiottire un cucchiaione di cannella senza tossire?
Can you swallow a big spoonful of cinnamon without coughing?
(Nope. Don’t even try.)

The handle of the spoon, where you place your fingers, is called manico or, less commonly, impugnatura. Historically, this part was called codolo, but you don’t need to learn that!

Expressions

Mary distribuì l’impasto con un grosso cucchiaio da minestra.
Mary distributed the dough with a large soup spoon.

Colleziono cucchiai da tè.
I collect tea spoons.

Dove sono i cucchiaini da te?
Where are the coffee spoons?

Materials of a spoon in Italian

Spoons are made of many different materials and these are introduced in Italian by the preposition di, of. You can have…

Wooden spoons, i cucchiai di legno, are commonly used to stir pasta cooking in the boiling pot!

La mamma mescola la zuppa con un cucchiaio di legno.
Mom stirs the soup with a wooden spoon.

The spoons used to eat soup are usually made of acciaio, steel.

I cucchiai d’acciaio sono molto resistenti.
Steel spoons are very resistant.

More espensive spoons are made of argento, silver.

Ho una collezione di cucchiaini da tè d’argento provenienti da tutto il mondo.
I have a collection of silver tea spoons from all over the world.

Cheaper and disposable spoons are made of plastica, plastic.

I cucchiai di plastica inquinano l’ambiente.
Plastic spoons pollute the environment.

Cucchiaiata literally means spoonful into Italian, although we will still use cucchiaio or cucchiaino in our sentences (see the examples), even in recipes.

Aggiungo sempre un cucchiaio di miele al mio tè.
I always add a spoonful of honey to my tea.

Ogni mattina aggiungo un cucchiaino di zucchero al mio caffè.
I add a small spoonful of sugar to my coffee every morning.

Aggiungere 3 cucchiai di vino bianco.
Add 3 tablespoons of white wine.

Creamy sweets and desserts like puddings that are meant to be eaten with a spoon are called dolci al cucchiaio, literally “desserts at the spoon”.

Finally, the expression raccattare col cucchiaino, literally “to scoop up with a spoon”, is used when someone is so tired they can barely stand on their feet. They have basically melted.

Luca è così stanco che lo dovranno raccattare col cucchiaino.
Luca is so tired that they will have to scoop him up with a spoon.

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