lama

blade; llama

noun LAH-mah Rare

Origin: 'Blade' from Latin 'lamina'; 'llama' from Quechua 'llama' via Spanish

Usage Note

Lama is a classic Italian homonym: la lama can mean a cutting blade (of a knife, sword, or skate) or the South American camelid. Context always disambiguates — la lama del coltello ('the knife blade') vs un lama dello zoo ('a zoo llama'). Note that lama is also the Italian word for a Buddhist monk (from Tibetan), making it a triple homonym.

Examples

"La lama del coltello è molto affilata."

Natural Translation

The knife blade is very sharp.

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