minestra
Italian
editEtymology
editFrom minestrare (“to serve, prepare (as in soup)”), from Latin ministrāre.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editminestra f (plural minestre, diminutive minestrìna, augmentative minestróne, pejorative minestráccia or minestrùccia)
- soup
- pasta (boiled and eaten with a sauce)
- Synonyms: pasta asciutta, pastasciutta
Usage notes
edit- In the Italian culinary tradition of a multi-course dinner this is usually the first course (not counting antipasto, if any). As a soup, it tends to be lighter than zuppa and with smaller pieces than minestrone.
- In most settings just ”minestra” will be understood to be a soup-like dish, but the term is also used to refer to minestra asciutta, which is a pasta dish.
Derived terms
edit- o mangi la minestra o salti la finestra (“beggars can't be choosers”, literally “either you eat the soup or you jump (out of) the window”)
Related terms
editDescendants
edit- → Alemannic German: Manestre
Further reading
edit- minestra in Collins Italian-English Dictionary
- minestra in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)
- minestra in Aldo Gabrielli, Grandi Dizionario Italiano (Hoepli)
- minestra in garzantilinguistica.it – Garzanti Linguistica, De Agostini Scuola Spa
- minèstra in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication
- minèstra in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana