delatore

informer

noun deh-lah-TOH-reh Rare

Origin: From Latin delator, from deferre ('to report, denounce').

Also means

snitch

Usage Note

Delatore carries a strongly negative historical resonance in Italian, linked especially to denunciations under Fascism and the Nazi occupation. The feminine form is delatrice. It is more formal and weighted than the colloquial spia ('spy, snitch') and implies active, deliberate betrayal to an authority.

Examples

"Il delatore aveva rivelato il nascondiglio ai soldati."

Natural Translation

The informer had revealed the hiding place to the soldiers.

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