Skip to content

rocca

fortress

noun ROK-kah Rare
Travel & Places Landmarks

Also means

distaff

Usage Note

Rocca primarily means a hilltop fortress or castle, common in Italian medieval towns — la Rocca di Assisi is a famous example. A secondary, older sense is the distaff, the stick used in hand-spinning. In everyday modern use the medieval-fortress sense predominates.

Examples

"La rocca domina il paese dall'alto della collina."

Natural Translation

The fortress overlooks the town from atop the hill.

Free starter pack

Building your Italian vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common Italian words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore Italian by topic