Skip to content

costola

rib

noun KOH-stoh-lah Rare

Origin: From Latin costa (rib, side).

Also means

spine of a book

Usage Note

Costola means a single rib bone (mi sono rotto una costola). It also refers to the spine of a book — the narrow visible edge when shelved. Do not confuse with costa (coast, side, rib in anatomy — used more broadly) or coste (ribs as a cut of meat). The plural le costole is regular.

Examples

"Si è rotta una costola durante la partita."

Natural Translation

She broke a rib during the match.

Explore Italian by topic