The history of Germany and Italy has been closely intertwined over the centuries as, since the middle ages, Italian and German states have traded with each other, sharing both economic and cultural production.
The close ties have had a noticeable impact on the German language, too. In fact, Italian is among the languages with the greatest influence on German.
“Italianisms” – words borrowed from Italian – rank 4th amongst foreign languages from which German has adopted words and an estimated 6.5 to 7 percent of German words come from Italian. Their influence is particularly strong in the areas of trade, art and lifestyle.
We’ve created a list of ten German words whose roots lie in Italian. Many of them, as you’ll discover, relate to the countries’ long trading history.
Environment
Loaned from the Italian word environmentmeaning environment – of Environment is used to mean an atmosphere or feeling (similar to the English word ‘ambience’) in German. In the original Italian, however, the word is used to mean a physical location or setting.
Bank
The German word the Bank comes from the Italian bankwhich originally described a long table used for exchanging money. Many historians consider medieval and Renaissance Italy as pivotal in the development of modern banking systems; particularly important were cities such as Venice, Genoa and Florence.
READ ALSO: 7 ways to talk about money like a German
Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, the banking system – and its terminology – spread into the Holy Roman Empire and Northern Europe.
The facade of the Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena in Siena, Italy. Photo: picture alliance / dpa | Matthias Sedda
Bankrupt
The adjective bankrupt – meaning bankrupt in English, is derived from the Italian broken bankwhich translates as ‘broken table’.
During the Renaissance, when Italian money exchangers couldn’t fulfill their duties, their banks (tables) would be destroyed.
balance sheet
The German word die balance sheet comes from the Italian balance meaning ‘balance’. In German, balance sheet generally refers to a financial type of balance or a result in terms of numbers.
Germans also use the French word Balance when referring to equilibrium or equality. It’s probably useful to know the difference between balance sheet and Balance before going to the Bank.
Failure
It’s thought that the German word the Failure derives from the Italian phrase far fiascowhich means to suffer a complete breakdown in performance.
There are various theories about how this phrase came about in Italian, as fiasco is the word for a type of bottle.
READ ALSO: Seven German words that originally come from India
One theory claims that, until the 18th century, as a form of public humiliation, people were condemned to wear a type of bottle made for sinners. Another theory suggests it refers to the disaster that can ensue when a bottle breaks.
Capital
The capital has the same meaning as the English word ‘capital’, in its economic sense. It’s also the title of one of the most famous and influential books in the German language – Karl Marx’s critique of the 19th-century political economy.
The word comes from the Venetian loanword Cadevalwhich itself comes from the Latin caputmeaning head.
A house from the board game Monopoly sits on top of a pile of coins. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-tmn | Andrea Warnecke
Corridor
Like its English equivalent corridor, the term derives from hallwaywhich descends from runmeaning to run. Presumably, because corridors are fun to run along.
Credit
Like Capital, the Credit equates to the English term ‘credit’ in its economic definition. The term is a derivation of the Italian creditwhich originates from the Latin believe meaning to believe.
The link here is that you only loan money if you believe the other person will pay you back.
Oper
Like its English counterpart – ‘opera’ – die Oper stems from the Italian operameaning work or action. The Italian word derives from the Latin opus meaning work.
The first Italian-language opera was Jacopo Peri’s 1598 work Dafne, and the first German-language opera followed three decades later when Heinrich Schütz translated Peri’s work.
Evening view of the illuminated Semperoper on Theaterplatz in Dresden. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild | RobertMichael
Spav
The German term for fun has been in the language since the 17th century. It originates from the Italian funmeaning pleasure, or pastime. Fun is a derivation of the vulgar Latin outcastwhich comes from the verb expanderemeaning to spread out.
Expandere is also the root of the English term expand.