What is the italian word for love

Perhaps a seductive signore (gentleman) or sassy signorina (miss) has swept you off your feet. Or maybe you are simply a sucker for romance. Whatever your reasons for wanting to learn how to express your romantic feelings in Italian, we are here to help you do it properly!

The meaning of amore – The noun

The Italian word for love is amore (masculine, plural: amori).

Just like the English love, it means an intense feeling of affection for a person, but it can also be used for an animal or a passion:

• l’amore per i figli (the love for one’s children)
• l’amore per i genitori (the love for one’s parents)
• l’amore per i gatti (the love of cats)
• l’amore per il cinema (the love of cinema)
• l’amore della mia vita (the love of my life)

You can also use the word amore as a pet name for a person you love (a partner or child):

• Ciao amore! (Hi love!)
• Amore mio! (My love!)
• È il mio amore. (He/She is my lover/love.)

In some regions, amore can be shortened to the slang word amo‘:

Where Italian differs from English is that amore can’t be used for friends or members of the family such as uncles or cousins, unless it is intended as a joke. Adults may use it to express affection towards children who are not their own but with whom they are well-acquainted however.

Example: a child shows a drawing he just made to his mum’s best friend:

In certain countries like the UK, the word love is also used to greet a stranger. For example, someone who has just walked into a coffee shop might be welcomed by the owner with something along the lines of “You all right, love? “. In Italy, amore is not used in this sense – it would sound really strange! Once again it can be used as a joke or as a means of provocation or mocking someone.

For the plural form of love, you replace the last letter “e” with “i”: amori. This word can be used when talking about multiple romantic affairs or relationships, or as a reference to a number of people for whom you have profound affection such as your children:

Another way to talk about romantic relationships is to use words such as storie d’amore, storie amorose, or just storie.

Using the word storie can be useful to suggest a more serious relationship, whereas amori may be used to describe a more fleeting love story or even an affair depending on the context:

• Gli amori di Casanova = The love affairs of Casanova.

The meaning of amare (to love) – the verb

Now that you know the meaning of amore, let’s take a look at amare, which is the verb “to love“. It is very similar in spelling to amore – all you need to do is replace the letter “o” with another “a”. To express your feelings in the first person, you can say Ti amo (I love you). And if you’re really crazy about that person:

Another way to express a romantic interest in someone is to say mi piace (I like him/her), or mi piaci (I like you). This is used when you start to develop feelings for someone or when you start to go out with him/her in the hope of taking the relationship further. You can also use it to make an assessment of someone’s character. If you ask your best friend what he or she thinks of a person you both met the other day, they can respond with:

The verb amare mainly refers to the love between partners (girlfriend, boyfriend, partner, spouse or wife). You wouldn’t say ti amo to a family member or a friend, unless you intended it as a joke.

If you want to express loving feelings towards a friend or family member, phrases such as ti voglio bene (literally ‘I want good to you’) or ti adoro (I adore you) are more appropriate. It’s not unheard of for people to say Amo mio zio (I love my uncle) to really emphasise the deep feelings you have for that family member, but it is much less common.

You can use the verb amare in addition to adorare and piacere in reference to a passion such as a sport, musician or film. The verb adorare has a similar meaning, whereas piacere is less intense.

Additional Italian vocabulary

There are other words that are based on amore and can signify different things:

• amoreggiare verb (to flirt)
• amoreggiamento noun, masculine (making out, fooling around)
• amorevole adjective (loving, caring)
• amorevolezza noun, feminine (affection, care)
• fare l’amore expression (to make love)

There is an adjective that is spelt in a similar way to amare, which is amaro. However its definition is completely different: it means bitter.

Trivia

You may have already come across the word amore if you’ve ever heard the famous song That’s Amore. Composed in 1953 by Harry Warren and written by Jack Brooks, it is one of the most popular songs performed by Dean Martin.

And since we’re talking songs, why not end off with one by the Italian band 883 (my favourite as a child) called Una canzone d’amore (A love song).

What do you call your lover in Italian?

1. Amore! (ah-MOH-reh) Direct, meaningful, and probably the most popular term of endearment in Italy, amore translates to “love” in Italian.

What is il mio amore?

Here is il mio amore meaning in English: my love. My love in all languages.

Is Amore French or Italian?

“Amore” is the Italian spelling /pronunciation for a word which would be spelled/pronounced “amour” in French and it means Love. It is used in multiple languages with slight changes to the spelling…the most extreme of which might be lanmou, which is a creolized version of the same word.

What does Ciao Bella?

Ciao bella is an informal Italian expression literally meaning “goodbye (or hello), beautiful.”

How do Italian guys flirt?

In many cases, the Italian man sends out their flirting signal through subtle eye contact. They might look at you with a clear appreciation meanwhile making sure themselves charming and confident. They make sure their “message” is delivered, which means they wait for your look-back!

What is Tesoro?

noun. dear [noun] (British, informal) a person who is lovable or charming. exchequer [noun] the national or public money supply. honey [noun] (especially American) darling (used when speaking to someone one loves).

What does Piccola mean?

noun. babe [noun] a way of addressing someone you love, such as a husband or wife.

What is dolcezza?

noun. [ feminine ] /dol’tʃetːsa/ (sapore) sweetness , sweet taste.

What’s the meaning of amore?

Amore is the Italian word for “love”.

What is another name for Amore?

What is the meaning of Poco Loco?

English Translation. little crazy. More meanings for poco loco. dizzy adjective.

How do you say amore?

I have prepared a pdf file with all the Italian words and phrases you’ll find in this post. You can find it in Your Italian Toolbox, a section of Instantly Italy where you’ll find Italian learning materials. You can get access to it by subscribing here.

Buon San Valentino! Do you want to speak of love? Why don’t you do it in Italian?

They always say that Italian is the language of love, right? So, it is useful to know some nice Italian words to use if you want to impress your loved one – be he or she Italian or not.

This is why, on this very special day, I decided to write a blog post sharing with you some Italian words related to love. You may use them to enrich your Italian vocabulary, to show off at your local bar or simply to whisper in the ears of your significant other.

First of all, let’s begin with the nicest word: bacio (kiss). It can be used in its lovely diminutive forms too, that are bacino or bacetto. Both of them basically mean little kisses and are just a sweeter way of using this word. Un bacio can be dolce (sweet), appassionato (passionate), gentile (gentle), affettuoso (tender) or romantico (romantic) – and many other things, of course!

There are different types of kisses: un bacio sulla guancia (a kiss on the cheek), un bacio sulle labbra (a kiss on the lips) or un bacio sulla bocca (a kiss on the mouth). Actually, there is also the French kiss, which should be translated as bacio alla francese, but this is an expression that hardly anyone uses: we Italians less romantically call it bacio con la lingua (a kiss with the tongue).

Bacio is undoubtedly something sweet, in Italian.

As a matter of fact, it is also the name of two different types of sweets. One is Bacio Perugina, an iconic chocolate candy topped with a whole hazelnut and coated with dark chocolate. What makes it special – apart from the fact that it’s super yummy – is that each candy is wrapped with a different love note, making Baci Perugina the most common chocolates to be gifted on February 14th.

The other sweet is bacio di dama, literally lady kiss, small cookies that come from Piedmont – Tortona precisely. They have this name because they are made of two pieces of dough which resemble two lips kissing, with chocolate in the middle. Actually, bacio is the name of different other cookies, mostly with chocolate, that you can find in many Italian cities – basically, a lot of Italian cities have their own, typical bacio.

Bacio is a kiss, but what about the act of kissing? It’s baciare (to kiss). But you can also use other verbs: dare un bacio (to give a kiss), scambiarsi un bacio (to exchange a kiss), rubare un bacio (to steal a kiss), mandare un bacio (to send a kiss), for example.

But love doesn’t mean just kisses, right?

There are also abbracci (hugs), carezze (caresses), and coccole (cuddles). And you have the corresponding verbs, which are abbracciare (to hug), accarezzare (to caress) and coccolare (to cuddle). Baci e abbracci (kisses and hugs) is also a common way to say goodbye to people, most likely in correspondence.

Other verbs are amare (to love), innamorarsi (to fall in love), fare l’amore (to make love), lasciarsi (to break up), which doesn’t have much to do with love but sometimes comes after it, unfortunately. There’s also a very quintessentially Italian verb, voler bene or volersi bene, but it doesn’t have an English equivalent. Voler bene is a little different than love, it’s less passionate, less strong, but it involves a lot of affection and fondness. It is generally used for platonic love.

One of the most important things in love is actually letting the other person know that you like him or her.

Therefore, there here are some of the sentences you need. If you are at the beginning of a relationship, you can say “mi piaci moltissimo” (I like you a lot), “sei bellissimo/a” (you are really handsome/gorgeous), “mi fai impazzire” (you drive me crazy) or “sono pazzo/a di te” (I am crazy about you) and maybe “ti penso ogni giorno” (I think about you every day).

If you fall in love, you need to say “ti amo” (I love you), “ti adoro” (I adore you), “sei l’amore della mia vita” (you are the love of my life), “non posso vivere senza di te” (I can’t live without you), and – if you feel ready – “voglio passare il resto della mia vita con te” (I want to spend the rest of my life with you) and finally “mi vuoi sposare?” (will you marry me?) or “ci sposiamo?” (shall we get married?).

If you need some pet names for your loved one, you can use amore (love), tesoro (treasure), cucciolo/a (puppy), cuore (heart) and you can use it with a possessive, just to make it stronger: amore mio, tesoro mio, cucciolo mio, cuore mio. Actually, there are endless other words you can use as pet names, like biscottino/a (little cookie) or patatino/a (little potato) for example.

Valentine’s Day is undoubtedly about love but it is about presents as well.

So you may need to give un regalo (present) or un regalino (little present) to your significant other. You don’t need to give much but un pensiero (a thought) or un pensierino (a little thought), something nice and small will surely be appreciated. In case of a lady, you may also give her un mazzo di fiori (a bunch of flowers) or un mazzo di rose (a bunch of roses), usually rose rosse (red roses), since they represent love.  Don’t forget cioccolatini (chocolates) and un biglietto d’amore (a love card) as well!

Now tell me, what is the Italian word related to love you like the most? 

In order to make this post more useful for you, I have created a downloadable pdf file, so that you can keep it for future reference.

If you want to get it, you simply have to subscribe to my newsletter. By doing so, you will get access to Your Italian Toolbox, a library of Italian-related materials that includes the above-mentioned pdf file as well (you’ll find it in the Festivities section). I hope you’ll find it useful and interesting!

If you are interested in improving your Italian language skills, I’d suggest you check Chiacchieriamo, your way of chatting with an Italian without moving from home.

Chiacchieriamo is a Skype chat that helps you practice and improve your Italian with a native speaker. If you want to give it a try, you can request a 30-minute free chat, so that we can meet each other and see if you like the service.