Category: Food & DrinkPart of speech: nounDifficulty: Common

cena

/cena/Roman

English meaning: Dinner

Definition

The main meal of the day, eaten in the evening.

Example

“Stasera la cena è alle otto.”

In English: “Tonight dinner is at eight.”

Another example: “Stasera siamo invitati a cena dai vicini.”

Usage — When, Where & How

A noun for 'dinner', the evening meal and often the main social meal. 'Cena di lavoro', 'invitare a cena' are common collocations.

Etymology & Origin

English — Origin & History

The term 'cena' traces back to the Latin 'caena', meaning 'meal', specifically the evening meal. Its meaning has remained largely unchanged through the centuries.

Common Collocations

  • cena di lavoro
  • invitare a cena
  • cena romantica
  • ora di cena
  • preparare la cena

Word Forms

f.sg. cena, pl. cene

Word Tools

Literary Heritage

“Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura”

“In the middle of the journey of our life, I came to myself in a dark forest.”

Dante Alighieri · Father of the Italian Language · 1265–1321

Divina Commedia — Inferno

Inferno, Canto I — the most famous opening in Western literature; Dante's journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise

“Pace non trovo e non ho da far guerra”

“I find no peace, and yet I make no war — I fear and I hope, I burn and I am ice.”

Francesco Petrarch · Father of Humanism & Sonnet Form · 1304–1374

Canzoniere

Sonnet 134 — Petrarch's paradox of love; the template for over two centuries of European love poetry

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Language information

Language
Italiano
Italian
Script
Latin
Family
Romance
Speakers
70M
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