Verde

Italian word of the day

Pronunciation
English translationGreen
OriginFrom the Italian verb virĭdis, “to be green”
green clover - how do you say green in italian

Green is a color, un colore. Its pronunciation is similar to vehr-deh and it comes from the Latin virĭdem, “green”. Make sure your final -e is clean, without any -y quality at the end, because Italian vowel sounds are clean.

Perché hai dipinto la tua casa di verde?Why did you paint your house green?
Tom indossava una giacca verde.Tom wore a green jacket.
L’esterno di questa scatola è verde, ma l’interno è rosso.The outside of this box is green, but the inside is red.

Different shades of green in Italian

Verdino is the diminutive form of verde (the -ino suffix in Italian makes things smaller). It’s used to describe a desaturated shade of green, which can also be translated as verde chiaro, literally “light green”.

VerdinoLight green
Verde chiaroLight green
Le persiane sono di un verdino molto chiaro. Non mi piacciono.The shutters are of a very light greenish color. I don’t like them.
greenish tapioca bubble tea

Verdognolo translates as greenish, so it’s used to mean something green, but not quiet.

VerdognoloGreenish
Il muro della cucina è verdognolo con un motivo di fiori.The kitchen wall is greenish with a floral motif.

Smeraldino comes from smeraldo, which means emerald. Although the most direct translation for “emerald green” is verde smeraldo, the adjective smeraldino is often used to describe seawater that is particularly clean.

SmeraldinoEmerald green
La Sardegna è rinomata per le sue acque smeraldine.Sardinia is famous for its emerald-green waters.
Verde smeraldoEmerald green
Ricordi il nome di quell’insetto color verde smeraldo?Do you remember the name of that emerald green-colored insect?

(That’s the green rose chafer, the cetonia aurata, often incorrectly called the maggiolino (cockhafer) in Italy. Beetle is translated as scarabeo).

how do you say green in italian - two people flying a helicopter over smeraldine waters

Olivastro comes from oliva, which means olive. You most often translate olive green as verde oliva, but you will use olivastro when you’re talking about, say, the particular shade of someone’s skin.

OlivastroOlive green
L’uomo ha una pelle olivastra e grandi occhi marroni.The man has olive skin and big brown eyes.
Verde olivaOlive green
Hai visto in giro i miei pantaloncini verde oliva?Have you seen my olive green shorts around [the house]?

Other shades of green are…

Verde scuroDark green
Verde acquaAqua green
Verde pistacchioPistachio green
Verde pastelloPastel green
Verde mentaMint green
Verde militareArmy green
Verde bottigliaBottle green
Le foglie di questo albero sono verde scuro.The leaves of this tree are dark green.
Fra tutte le tonalità di verde, il verde menta è la sfumatura che preferisco.Of all the shades of green, mint green is my favorite.
mint green - mint leaf

Verbs featuring green in Italian

When something turns green, you can use the verb inverdire, “to turn green”.

InverdireTo turn green

You can use rinverdire to say “to turn green again”.

RinverdireTo turn green again
Con la stagione invernale ormai alla fine, gli alberi si stanno rinverdendo.With the winter season now at an end, the trees are turning green again.

Did you know that verdura, the Italian word for vegetables, comes from verde? No wonder, since so many vegetables are green! Unlike English, verdura is a feminine singular noun.

La verduraVegetables
Mio figlio mangia pochissima verdura.My son eats very few vegetables.

Toll-free numbers are called “green numbers” in Italy, numeri verdi.

Numero verdeToll-free number
C’è un numero verde che posso chiamare per avere informazioni?Is there a toll-free number I can call for information?

Expressions

Farsi verde dall’invidiaTo turn green because of envy
Farsi verde dalla rabbiaTo turn green because of anger
Far vedere i sorci verdiTo cause big trouble
Essere al verdeTo be broke
essere al verde - to be broke - how do you say green in italian
Albero sempreverdeEvergreen tree
L’erba del vicino è sempre più verdeThe grass is always greener on the other side
Chi di verde si veste della sua beltà troppo si fidaHe who wears green trusts their beauty too much

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