itālis

See also: italis

Latvian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin italus, itself possibly a borrowing from Oscan 𐌅𐌝𐌕𐌄𐌋𐌉𐌞 (víteliú), a name for the southwestern tip of the boot of Italy (today's Calabria), possibly a cognate of Latin vitulus (“calf”), meaning perhaps “land of cattle.” Other theories include the name of an ancient or legendary leader Italus, or also an old borrowing from Illyrian.

Pronunciation

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Noun

itālis m (2nd declension, feminine form: itāliete)

1. Italic; a member of the ancient Italic peoples of primitive Italy

   (usually in the plural) itāļi, the Italic peoples

2. Italian (i.e., a man born in Italy)
3. (genitive plural) Italian; pertaining to Italy and its people

   itāļu valoda ― the Italian language

Usage notes

The noun itālietis is preferred in almost all senses; itālis is most often used in the plural itāļi to refer to the Italic peoples of ancient (pre-Roman) Italy. The only exception is the name of the Italian language, for which itāļu valoda is as frequent as itāliešu valoda.

Declension

Declension of itālis (2nd declension)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	itālis	itāļi
accusative (akuzatīvs)	itāli	itāļus
genitive (ģenitīvs)	itāļa	itāļu
dative (datīvs)	itālim	itāļiem
instrumental (instrumentālis)	itāli	itāļiem
locative (lokatīvs)	itālī	itāļos
vocative (vokatīvs)	itāli	itāļi

Synonyms

• itālietis

Related terms

• Itālija
• itālisks
• itāļu valoda, itāliešu valoda