Borrowed from Latin italus, itself possibly a borrowing from Oscan 𐌅𐌝𐌕𐌄𐌋𐌉𐌞 (víteliú), a name for the southwestern tip of the boot of Italy (today's Calabria), possibly a cognate of Latin vitulus (“calf”), meaning perhaps “land of cattle.” Other theories include the name of an ancient or legendary leader Italus, or also an old borrowing from Illyrian.
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itālis m (2nd declension, feminine form: itāliete)
The noun itālietis is preferred in almost all senses; itālis is most often used in the plural itāļi to refer to the Italic peoples of ancient (pre-Roman) Italy. The only exception is the name of the Italian language, for which itāļu valoda is as frequent as itāliešu valoda.
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | itālis | itāļi |
genitive | itāļa | itāļu |
dative | itālim | itāļiem |
accusative | itāli | itāļus |
instrumental | itāli | itāļiem |
locative | itālī | itāļos |
vocative | itāli | itāļi |