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1584 dettaglio detail. From French détail. Both English detail and its French source détail end with -tail, which is not tail as in animal’s tail, but French tailler meaning “to cut”, just as taglio of Italian dettaglio means “cut”. Literally, these words mean “off-cut”; de- or dé- means “off”. Example, prezzo al dettaglio (“retail price”, literally “price to the detail”).

1586 canale channel; canal. From Latin canalis (“pipe”; “channel”; “canal”). Cognate with channel and canal, Spanish canal and French canal (“channel”; “canal”). In Latin and Romance languages, the single word can mean either “channel” or “canal”. Note this word is masculine. Examples, il canale della Manica (“the English Channel”, literally “the channel / canal of Sleeve” as called in other Romance languages); canale tv (“TV channel”).

1589 qualunque any, whatever, whichever, qualsiasi. From qual (“what”, “which”) + -unque (“ever”). This word is less common than qualsiasi. Examples, qualunque altra cosa (“anything else”); qualunque cosa / qualsiasi cosa succeda (“whatever happens”).

1591 soggiorno stay (n.), sojourn; living room. 6121 soggiornare to stay, to sojourn. From Latin sub- + diurnus (“day”), which is cognate with journal, diurnal. Cognate with sojourn. Literally, the word means “under (sub-) or shorter than a day”. Examples, grazie per il tuo soggiorno! (“thank you for your stay!”); una casa con un grande soggiorno (“a house with a big living room”).

1594 lettore reader. From Latin lector (“reader”), which has entered English, Spanish, and French as lecteur. Latin lector is from legere (“to read”) + -tor (“-er”). Cognate with lecture. In spite of the cognation, this word does not mean “lecture”, which would be conferenza in Italian. Unrelated to English letter. Examples, commenti dei lettori (“reader comments”); lettore DVD (“DVD player”, literally “DVD reader”). See also legere.

1597 cane dog. From Latin canis (“dog”). Cognate with canine, French chien. This word is a false friend of English cane (which would be canna in Italian). Note this word is masculine and its feminine is cagna, not cana. Examples, un cane da caccia (“a hunting dog / hound”); ti affido il mio cane mentre vado in vacanza (“I’ll leave / entrust my dog to you while I go on vacation”).

1601 pesce fish. 3087 pescare to fish; (figurative) to get. From Latin piscem (“fish”). Cognate with Pisces (zodiac sign for the Fish), Spanish pez and French poisson (“fish”), with English fish if traced to Proto-Indo-European (*p- changed to f- in Germanic per the Grimm’s law). Examples, pesce rosso (“goldfish”; note: not pesce d’oro); zuppa di pesce (“fish soup”); andiamo a pescare (“let’s go fishing”).

1604 neanche not even, nemmeno; neither, nor. From né (“not”) + anche (“even”). This word and nemmeno mean exactly the same. Example, neanch’io / neanche io / neanche a me (“me either”, “neither do / am I”). See also nemmeno.

1605 spettare to be up to (someone to decide etc.); to be due (should be given to). From Latin spectare (“to watch”, “to look at”). Cognate with spectate, spectator. Both meanings of this word imply that you need to watch or keep an eye on something. Not to be confused with aspettare (“to wait”; “to expect”), even though they share the same root back in Latin. Examples, spetta / sta a te decidere (“it’s up to you to decide”); a chi spetta la pensione di invalidità? (“who is entitled to the disability pension?”, literally “to whom is due the disability pension?”); gli spetta una pensione (“he’s entitled to a pension”).

1607 aereo airplane, aircraft, aeroplano; (adj.) air, aerial. From Latin aerius (“of air”, “aerial”). Cognate with aerial, air. Doublet with aria (“air”). In the first sense, the word can be considered short for aeroplano (note: not *aereoplano). Examples, aereo da caccia (“fighter plane”); aereo a reazione (“jet plane”, literally “airplane by way of reaction”); vista / visione aerea (“aerial view”; note aereo/a is used adjectively).

1608 desiderare to want, to wish, to desire. 1674 desiderio desire, wish. From Latin desiderare (“to desire”). Cognate with English desire, Spanish desear and French désirer (“to desire”). Latin -dera- changed to -dra-, -rra-, and then -ra-. Example, esprimere un desiderio (“to make a wish”, literally “to express a desire”).

1627 predetto above-mentioned, aforementioned. The root detto is the past participle of dire (“to say”). The word literally means “pre-said” or “previously said”. Do not confuse this word with English predict, which would be predire in Italian. Although it may mean “predicted”, previsto is a more common word in that sense.