How to learn Italian 3 - Homographs

Homographs are words written alike but pronounced differently. 

We divided them in two groups:

1) those with the accent on the same syllable. Homographs with closed and open vowel");


2) and those stressed on different syllables (this list). 

There are not many of these words in Italian and context usually helps
understand their real meaning; however, the different pronunciation might create
misunderstandings or involuntary comic effects.

Please note that pronunciation can vary from
region to region and educated speakers of certain regions may not follow the
standard pronunciation given below. 

For regional differences in pronunciation, see "L'italiano e i dialetti",
published by Centro Studi Italiani as part of the Italian Readings on Tape series.

To find the infinitive of verb forms and a larger number of homograph verb
forms, see "La ricerca dell'infinito",
published by Centro Studi Italiani. For word stress position in homograph
forms of conjugated verbs (perdóno/perdonò), see "Le coniugazioni chiavi",
published by Centro Studi Italiani. 

One of the most common cases of resemblance is between the second person
singular of the imperative and the past participle.

Example:

Vèstiti in fretta	Get dressed at once
(Si sono) vestìti in fretta	(They) got dressed in a hurry

  

NOTA BENE: we indicate only one of several possible English equivalents for the following
words. 

  

Italian	English Equivalent	Italian	English Equivalent	Italian	English Equivalent
àdito	entrance	adìto	started legal proceedings	_____	_____
>  abbàglio (l')	blunder	abbaglìo (l')	dazzle	_____	_____
abbàino	(that) they bark	abbaìno (l')	attic	_____	_____
abbàio	I bark	abbaìo (l')	barking	_____	_____
abbarbàglio	I dazzle	abbarbaglìo (l')	dazzle	_____	_____
abìlita	it qualifies	abilità (l')	ability	_____	_____
àbitino (l')	(that) they live	abitìno	simple/nice dress	_____	_____
àbito (l')	suit, dress	abitò	s/he lived	_____	_____
abòmini	you hate	abomìni (gli)	abominations	_____	_____
accòmodati	come in,  make  yourself  comfortable	accomodàti	repaired	_____	_____
accòrdio (l')	small hand organ	accordìo (l')	tuning (obsolete)	_____	_____
adùlteri	adulterous	adultèri	adulteries	_____	_____
àgito	I shake	agìto	acted	agitò	s/he shook
aguzzìno	slave driver	agùzzino	that they sharpen
àltero	I alter	altèro	proud	alterò	s/he altered
àmbito (l')	circle, sphere	ambìto	sought after	_____	_____
àncora (l')	anchor	ancóra	still, yet	_____	_____
àrbitri	referee	arbìtri	liberty	_____	_____
àrista	chine of pork	arìsta	ear of corn	_____	_____
asfìssia	it asphyxiates	asfissìa	asphyxia	_____	_____
attàcchino	(that) they attack/affix	attacchìno (l')	bill-poster	_____	_____
àuguri (gli)	augurs	augùri	wishes	__________
àvaro (l')	Avar	avàro	stingy	_____	_____
bàcino	(that) they kiss	bacìno (il)	basin	_____	_____
bàcio	kiss	bacìo	facing north	_____	_____
bàglio (l')	dazzle	baglìo (l')	dazzling	_____	_____
bàlia (la)	wet nurse	balìa (la)	power	_____	_____
bàlzano	they jump	balzàno	odd	_____	_____
bécchino (beccare)	that they peck	becchìno	undertaker	__________
benèfici	charitable	benefìci (i)	benefits	_____	_____
bòccino	(that) they reject	boccìno (il)	small bocce ball	_____	_____
bràmino	(that) they crave for	bramìno (il)	Brahmin	_____	_____
bùchino	(that) they make a hole	buchìno	small hole
bùttero (il)	cowboy	butterò	I will throw	_____	_____
calàmita	s/he attracts	calamìta (la)	magnet	calamità (la)	calamity
càlzino	they wear	calzìno	sock	_____	_____
càmbiale	change them	cambiàle (la)	bill, I.O.U.	_____	_____
càmpano	they live	campàno	pertaining to (or native of) the region of Campania	_____	_____
cànone	Canon, (monthly/yearly )flat fee	canòne	big dog
càntino	(that) they sing	cantìno (il)	high E string of violin or guitar	_____	_____
càpitano	they happen	capitàno (il)	captain	capitanò	s/he lead
càpito	I arrive	capìto	understood	capitò	s/he arrived
capìtolo (il)	chapter	capitolò	s/he capitulated	_____	_____
circùito (il)	circuit	circuìto	deceived	_____	_____
colònia	colony	colonìa	farming contract	_____	_____
cómpito (il)	task	compìto	polite	compitò	s/he spelled out
condòmini (i)	co-owners	condomìni (i)	condominiums	_____	_____
crògiolo (crogiolare)	I cook on a small fire	crogiòlo (dell'altoforno)	crucible	_____	_____
cucìnino	(that) they cook	cucinìno (il)	kitchenette	_____	_____
dècade (la)	decade	decàde	it declines	_____	_____
desìderi	you desire	desidèri (i)	desires	_____	_____
dèstino	(that) they wake up	destìno (il)	destiny	destinò	s/he destined
diménticati	forget it	dimenticàti	forgotten	_____	_____
esàmino	I examine	esamìno (l')	short exam	esaminò	s/he examined
ètere (l')	ether	etère (le)	hetaera	_____	_____
férmati	stop	fermàti	stopped	_____	_____
fòrmica (la)	Formica (brand name)	formìca (la)	ant	_____	_____
frùstino	(that) they whip	frustìno (il)	riding-whip	_____	_____
gorghéggio	trill	gorgheggìo	trilling	gorgheggiò	trilled
gorgóglio	gurgle	gorgoglìo	gurgling	gorgogliò	gurgled
gràvita	s/he gravitates	gravità (la)	gravity	_____	_____
guài (i)	troubles	guaì	it yelped	_____	_____
ìmpari	unequal	impàri	you learn	_____	_____
ìndice (l')	index	indìce	s/he proclaims	_____	_____
ìndico	I indicate	indìco	I proclaim	_____	_____
ìntimo	intimate	intìmo	I order	intimò	s/he ordered
intùito (l')	intuition	intuìto	perceived	_____	_____
inùmano (inumare)	they bury	inumàno (crudèle)	inhuman	_____	_____
ìsolano	they isolate	isolàno (l')	islander	_____	_____
lèggere	to read	leggère	light	_____	_____
leggèro	light	leggerò	I will read	_____	_____
lièvita	s/he rises	lievità (la)	levity	_____	_____
lùstrino	that they shine	lustrìno	sequin
malèdico	slanderous	maledìco	I curse	_____	_____
màrtiri	martyrs	martìri (supplizi)	martyrdom	_____	_____
méndico	I beg	mendìco (il)	beggar	mendicò	s/he begged
mèrce	goods	mercè	pity
mèta	goal	metÃ	half
mondàno	mundane	mòndano	they clean
mugòlio (il)	plant extract (from a variety of pine)	mugolìo (il)	whining, moaning	_____	_____
nèttare (il)	nectar	nettàre	to clean	_____	_____
nòcciolo (il)	fruit stone	nocciòlo (il)	hazel	_____	_____
Omèro	Homer	òmero	humerus
òccupati	(you) see to it	occupàti	busy	_____	_____
onèsta	honest	onestà (l')	honesty	_____	_____
òvvia	obvious	ovvìa	come on!	_____	_____
Òvvio (scontato)	obvious	ovvìo (ovviare)	I remedy	_____	_____
pàgano	they pay	pagàno	pagan	_____	_____
pànico	panic	panìco	foxtail millet	_____	_____
pàpa	pope	papÃ	daddy
pàssero (il)	sparrow	passerò	I will go by	_____	_____
pàssino	that they go by	passìno (il)	strainer	_____	_____
pàttino	I skate	pattìno (il)	type of rowboat	pattinò	s/he skated
pèrdono	they lose	perdóno (il)	pardon	perdonò	s/he pardoned
péro (il)	pear tree	però	but, however	_____	_____
perséguito	I persecute	perseguìto	pursued	perseguitò	s/he persecuted
pòrtale	bring them	portàle (il)	portal	_____	_____
prèdica (la)	sermon	predìca	that s/he foretell	_____	_____
prèdico	I preach	predìco	I predict	predicò	s/he preached
prèsidi (delle scuole)	principals	presìdi (difese, aiuti)	garrisons	_____	_____
prèsso	near	pressò	s/he pressed	_____	_____
prìncipi (i)	princes	princìpi (i)	principles	_____	_____
pròtesi (la)	prosthesis	protési	stretched	_____	_____
pròvino	(that) they try	provìno (il)	screen-test	_____	_____
ràschio	clearing of one's throat	raschìo	scraping	_____	_____
rasségnati	(you) accept it	rassegnàti	resigned	_____	_____
règia	regal	regìa (la)	movie/stage direction	_____	_____
rètina	retina	retìna	hair-net	_____	_____
rùbino	(that) they steal	rubìno (il)	ruby	_____	_____
Sàra	Proper name	sarÃ	It will be	_____	_____
scàldino	(that) they heat	scaldìno (lo)	brazier	_____	_____
scàmpano	they escape	scampàno	I flare (a skirt)	_____	_____
scàrtino	(that) they discard	scartìno (lo)	slip sheet	_____	_____
scrìvano	(that) they write	scrivàno (lo)	copyist	_____	_____
sdrùcio	tear, rip	sdrucìo	ripping	_____	_____
sciàmano	they swarm	sciamàno	shaman	_____	_____
séguito (il)	entourage	seguìto	followed	seguitò	s/he continued
spìano	they spy	spiàno	I level	spianò	he leveled
stànzino	(that) they allocate	stanzìno (lo)	small storage room	_____	_____
stropìccio (stropicciare)	I rub	stropiccìo (lo)	rubbing	_____	_____
sùbito	at once	subìto	endured	_____	_____
témperino	(that) they temper	temperìno	pocket knife
tèndine (il)	tendon	tendìne (le)	window curtains	_____	_____
tèrmite	termite	termìte	termite	_____	_____
tèste	witness	testè	a short time ago
tórtore	doves	tortóre	club, baton	_____	_____
tràttino	that they treat	trattìno (il)	dash, hyphen	_____	_____
tùrbina	it whirls	turbìna (la)	turbine	_____	_____
tùrbine (il)	whirl	turbìne (le)	turbines	_____	_____
unìta	united	unitÃ	unity
vàluta	s/he values	valùta	currency	_____	_____
venèfici	poisonous	venefìci (i)	poisonings	_____	_____
vicària	vicarious	vicarìa	vicariate	_____	_____
vìola	s/he violates	viòla (la)	violet; viola (mus. instr.)	_____	_____
vìolino	(that) they violate	violìno (il)	violin	_____	_____
vìolo	I violate	viòlo	violet (dialect)	violò	s/he violated
vólano	they fly	volàno (il)	fly-wheel	_____	_____

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