guerra

war

noun GWER-rah Common

Origin: Germanic werra (strife)

Usage Note

Guerra entered Italian from a Germanic root via Old French, which is why Italian uses guerra rather than a Latin-derived word. Note guerra has the hard 'gu' cluster. Common phrases: fare la guerra (to wage war), in guerra (at war), dopoguerra (post-war period). The adjective is bellico/a (of war).

Examples

"La guerra causò molte sofferenze."

Natural Translation

The war caused much suffering.

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