anziano

elderly

adjective ahn-TSYAH-noh Less Common

Origin: from Latin 'ante', before

Also means

senior

Usage Note

Anziano describes an elderly person and, as a noun, gli anziani means 'the elderly'. It is the polite alternative to vecchio ('old'), which can sound blunt about people. It also means 'senior' in rank: socio anziano.

Examples

"Mio nonno è molto anziano."

Natural Translation

My grandfather is very old.

Literal Translation

My grandfather is very elderly.

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