Skip to content

dotto

learned

adjective DOHT-toh Rare
Descriptions & Qualities Personality

Origin: From Latin doctus, past participle of docere (to teach).

Also means

erudite

Usage Note

Dotto describes a person of great learning or scholarship: un uomo dotto (a learned man). It is more formal and literary than istruito (educated) or colto (cultured). As a noun, il dotto can mean 'the learned man' or, in anatomy, a duct (il dotto biliare, bile duct) — a completely different meaning requiring context.

Examples

"Era un uomo dotto e molto rispettato."

Natural Translation

He was a learned and highly respected man.

Explore Italian by topic