Skip to content

comma

paragraph (legal)

noun KOM-mah Common
People & Society Law

Origin: Latin comma, from Greek komma (clause, cut piece)

Usage Note

Comma is a false friend: it does NOT mean 'comma' (the punctuation mark, which is virgola in Italian). In Italian legal and legislative texts, comma refers to a numbered sub-paragraph or clause of an article — l'articolo 3, comma 2 (Article 3, paragraph 2). Its plural is commi (not comme), an irregular masculine plural ending in -i despite the -a ending.

Examples

"Vedi l'articolo 5, comma 3 della legge."

Natural Translation

See Article 5, paragraph 3 of the law.

Explore Italian by topic