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impiccare

to hang (a person)

verb eem-peek-KAH-reh Rare

Usage Note

Impiccare means specifically to execute or kill by hanging, and takes avere as its auxiliary: l'hanno impiccato ('they hanged him'). The similar-looking impicciarsi is a completely different verb meaning 'to meddle' or 'to interfere' — a false-friend trap within Italian itself. The past participle impiccato is also used as a noun meaning 'hanged man,' and is the name of the Italian word-guessing game equivalent to English 'Hangman.'

Examples

"Il traditore fu impiccato in piazza."

Natural Translation

The traitor was hanged in the square.

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