grillo

cricket (insect)

noun GREEL-loh Rare

Also means

whim, fancy

Usage Note

Grillo means the chirping cricket insect, but colloquially it also means a sudden whim or eccentric fancy — gli è saltato il grillo in testa ('a cricket jumped into his head') means he got a strange idea. Grillo parlante ('talking cricket') is the famous conscience figure from Pinocchio, also used idiomatically for an unwanted moraliser.

Examples

"Il grillo canta tutta la notte."

Natural Translation

The cricket chirps all night.

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