polvere

dust

noun POL-veh-reh Rare

Origin: From Latin pulvis, pulveris, 'dust'.

Also means

powder

Usage Note

Polvere means both household dust and fine powder. Polvere da sparo is 'gunpowder'. The phrase ridurre in polvere means 'to reduce to dust / to pulverize'. A common household product is la polvere per lavare (washing powder). The plural le polveri is used in technical or pharmaceutical contexts for powders.

Examples

"C'è molta polvere sui mobili."

Natural Translation

There is a lot of dust on the furniture.

Literal Translation

There-is much dust on-the furniture.

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