Italy
- 1A country in Southern Europe, officially the Italian Republic, with Rome as its capital and largest city.
Italy shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia.
The government of Italy moved quickly to support its struggling small businesses.
Note
Older English often makes the country a she. E. S. G. S. calls Rome "her capital" in Italy and Her Capital (1868), and Thomas Hodgkin titled his history Italy and Her Invaders. Modern writers usually refer to the country as it, the neutral choice.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Older English writers personified Italy as feminine. upload.wikimedia.org
- Italy and Her Capital was published under the initials E. S. G. S. in 1868; the original title page dates it MDCCCLXVIII. deriv.nls.uk
- E. S. G. S. uses the exact words “her capital” of Rome in relation to Italy. upload.wikimedia.org
- Thomas Hodgkin wrote the historical work Italy and Her Invaders. gutenberg.org
- 2The boot-shaped peninsula extending from Southern Europe into the Mediterranean Sea, also known as the Apennine Peninsula.
Geographers note that Italy, as a peninsula, also takes in San Marino and Vatican City, which are separate countries.
The narrow shape of Italy means no place lies far from the coast.
Note
Here the name belongs to geography rather than government. It means the long peninsula itself, the landform shaped by coast and mountains, apart from any border or capital. Phrases like southern Italy can lean toward either this or the modern country. When only the physical land is meant and politics should stay out of it, Apennine Peninsula is the unambiguous alternative.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Italy has a geographical sense denoting the Apennine Peninsula. en.wiktionary.org
- The peninsula is a physical landform whose shape and mountain backbone distinguish it. en.wikipedia.org
- The peninsula is geographically distinct from the territory of the Italian state. en.wikipedia.org
- Apennine Peninsula is an established alternative name for the physical peninsula. en.wikipedia.org
Use it in a sentence
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Origin
Modern English inherited the name from Old English Italia, which was borrowed from Latin Italia. The Latin goes back to Ancient Greek Ῑ̓ταλίᾱ (Ītalíā), possibly a borrowing of Oscan víteliú. The usual explanation treats the Oscan form and Latin vitulus ("calf") as words with a shared ancestor, giving the name the sense "land of young bulls." Under that explanation, its earliest source is Proto-Indo-European *wet- ("year"). Some ancient Greek writers offered a different account: the name honored a king called Italus or Italos.