matassa

skein, tangle

noun mah-TAHS-sah Rare

Origin: Arabic maṭāsa (silk thread)

Usage Note

Matassa is literally a loose coil of yarn or thread, but the idiomatic phrase districare la matassa (to unravel the skein) means to make sense of a complicated matter. Note the Arabic origin — one of many Italian words absorbed through medieval trade. Plural: matasse.

Examples

"Ha avvolto la matassa di lana."

Natural Translation

She wound up the skein of wool.

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