Skip to content

tessere

to weave

verb TES-seh-reh Rare

Origin: From Latin texere (to weave).

Also means

to spin, to plot

Usage Note

Tessere takes avere as auxiliary. Beyond literal weaving on a loom, it is used figuratively: tessere una trama means 'to weave a plot/scheme', and tessere le lodi di qualcuno means 'to sing someone's praises'. Its past participle is tessuto, which is also the noun for 'fabric' or 'tissue'.

Examples

"La nonna tesse ancora la lana a mano."

Natural Translation

Grandmother still weaves wool by hand.

Literal Translation

The grandmother weaves still the wool by hand.

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