svelto

Italian

Etymology

Past participle of svellere (“to pluck out, root out”), from Vulgar Latin *exvellere, from Latin vellere (“to pluck, stretch”), perhaps influenced by Spanish suelto (“free; agile”).[1]

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈzvɛl.to/, /ˈzvel.to/[2]
  • Rhymes: -ɛlto, -elto
  • Hyphenation: svèl‧to, svél‧to

Participle

svelto (feminine svelta, masculine plural svelti, feminine plural svelte)

  1. past participle of svellere

Adjective

svelto (feminine svelta, masculine plural svelti, feminine plural svelte, superlative sveltissimo)

  1. quick
    Svelto! ― Hurry up!
    Chi è svelto a mangiare è svelto a lavorare.
    He who is a quick eater is a quick worker.
  2. brisk
  3. quick-witted
    è una ragazza svelta ― she is a quick-witted girl

Derived terms

Descendants
  • → Catalan: esvelt
  • ⇒ Esperanto: svelta
  • → French: svelte
  • → Portuguese: esbelto
  • → Spanish: esbelto

References
  1. svelto in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
  2. svelto in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Anagrams
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