barbone

homeless person

noun bar-BOH-neh Rare

Also means

poodle (dog breed)

Usage Note

Barbone has two completely unrelated meanings: a homeless person (colloquial, mildly informal) and the poodle dog breed — un barbone nano is a miniature poodle. Context always disambiguates. As a noun for a person it can be pejorative depending on tone; senza fissa dimora ('without fixed abode') is the neutral official term. Masculine; feminine barbona.

Examples

"Un barbone dormiva sulla panchina del parco."

Natural Translation

A homeless man was sleeping on the park bench.

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