Skip to content

fagiolo

bean

noun fah-JOH-loh Rare
Food & Drink Vegetables

Origin: From Latin 'phaseolus', from Greek 'phaseolos' (kidney bean)

Usage Note

Fagiolo refers primarily to the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) — fresh, dried, or tinned. The idiom non capire un fagiolo ('not to understand a bean') means to understand absolutely nothing. Do not confuse with fagiolino (green bean / French bean) which is the diminutive, or fava (broad bean), a different species.

Examples

"La pasta e fagioli è un piatto tipico italiano."

Natural Translation

Pasta and beans is a typical Italian dish.

Free starter pack

Building your Italian vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common Italian words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore Italian by topic