4503 smentire to deny, to refute, to disprove. From s- + mentire (“to lie”, “to tell an untruth”). The prefix s- negates the meaning of the following verb. Example, smentire / negare l’accusa (“to deny the accusation”; smentire is stronger than negare and implies actions).

4504 striscia (n.) strip, stripe, streak, strap. From Latin stria (“groove”), which has entered English as stria (“stripe”). Cognate with Spanish estría (“stretch mark”). Use strip or stripe or stretch, combined with fascia (“band”), as a mnemonic. Examples, una striscia di pelle (“a strip of leather”); striscia la notizia (“news strip”).

4505 abbigliamento clothing, apparel, clothes, attire. From French habillement (“clothing”). Use habit (“monk’s or nun’s clothing”) as a mnemonic; remember to prepend h- (as if it was dropped due to silence) to use this mnemonic. Do not try to remove ab- and think of the rest as a word related to biglietto (“ticket”); they are unrelated. Example, abbigliamento sportivo (“sportsware”).

4507 furto theft. From Latin furtum (“theft”). Cognate with furtive, Spanish hurto (“theft”). Examples, commettere / scoprire un furto (“to commit / discover a theft”); accusato / imputato di furto (“accused of / charged with theft”); era detenuti per furto (“he was imprisoned / detained for theft”; whether “imprisoned” or just “detained” depends on the context).

4508 vettura car; coach, carriage. From Latin vectura (“transportation”, “wagon”), from vehere (“to convey”, “to transport”) + -tura (noun suffix). Cognate with vehicle, vector. In mathematics, a vector has an arrow implying it moves in that direction. In epidemiology, a vector is a living organism that transmits infectious pathogens. Both involve movement. To associate vettura with vehicle, you have to mentally change the first t of vettura to c, omit the suffix -tura, and omit -hi- of vehicle. Examples, vettura da / auto da corsa (“race car”); le vetture di prima classe (“the first-class carriages”).

4509 astratto (adj.) abstract; (n.) abstract; past participle of astrarre (“to abstract”), abstracted. From Latin abstractus (“drawn away”). Unlike assente (“absent”) < Latin absentem, letter b of Latin abstractus was dropped without gemination of s. Examples, arte / idee astratto (“abstract art / idea”); una frase astratto dal contesto (“a sentence taken out of context”).

4510 adoperare to use, to employ, usare, utilizzare. From Latin adoperare (“to use”), from ad- + operare (“to work”). Unrelated to English adopt or Italian adottare (“to adopt”), where the root means “to opt”, “to choose”.

4511 esca bait, lure, decoy; tinder. From Latin esca (“bait”). The first element e- is cognate with English eat if traced to Proto-Indo-European. As a mnemonic, say “esca” rima con “pesca” (“esca rhymes with pesca”; rima as a verb is the 3rd person singular form of rimare), and associate esca (“bait”) with pesca (“fish”). Or imagine a fish escapes from an angler’s bait. Example, gettare l’esca (“to cast the bait”).

4516 viabilità traffic conditions, road conditions; road, road network. The root can be traced to Latin viare (“to travel”), plus suffix -bilis (“-able”). Think of Italian via (“road”). This word does not mean “viability” or “ability to be viable”. Example, la viabilità ha migliorato (“traffic conditions have improved”).

4517 staminale (adj.) stem. From Latin stamen (“vertical threads of a loom”, “warp”; “string of instrument”). Cognate with stamina, and if traced to Proto-Indo-European, with stem. Example, cellula staminale / cellule staminali (“stem cell / cells”).

4521 tessera card, pass, ticket. From Latin tessera (“tessera”; “die”), from the Ancient Greek word meaning “four”. The Latin etymon has entered English meaning “square stone used to make a mosaic”, and the Ancient Greek etymon entered English in the form of the prefix tetra- (“four”). A card or pass is square in shape with four corners. As a mnemonic, imagine you need a special card or pass or ticket to buy and own a Tesla because it’s in high demand. Not to be confused with tessere (“to weave”), which is cognate with tissue, text. Examples, tessera del partito (“party membership card”); tessera associativa (“membership card”); foto formato tessera (“passport-size photo”).

4529 ripristino restoration, revival, restauro.

5024 ripristinare to restore, to revive. The root is cognate with pristine. Restoration is returning something to its original, pristine or unspoiled state. Example, ripristinare la facciata di una chiesa (“to restore a church façade”).

4532 questura police force, police headquarters. From Latin quaestura (“quaestorship”, “office of a quaestor, an ancient Roman official”). Cognate with query, question. Think of a policeman as one that questions a suspicious person, or the police headquarters as a place where such questioning takes place. Example, la questura di Roma (“the police headquarters of Rome”).

4536 torneo tournament. From Old French, from Latin tornare (“to turn”). Cognate with turn, tournament. A tournament has its origin in the Middle Ages when knights charged, engaged, and retreated in mock battles. Turning the horse is a basic mounted maneuver. Example, torneo di calcio / di tennis (“soccer / tennis tournament”).