Gomito
NOUN [masculine]
Meaning and English translation 🔖
Elbow
🇬🇧 The part of the upper limb where the forearm and the arm are joined, specifically between the humerus, ulna, and radius bones.
🇮🇹 La parte dell’arto superiore in cui l’avambraccio e il braccio si uniscono, in corrispondenza delle ossa dell’omero, dell’ulna e del radio.
| Masculine ♂️ | Feminine ♀️ | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | il - un gomito | - |
| Plural | i - dei gomiti | - |
Example sentences 💬
Giorgio si è fatto male al gomito giocando a tennis.
Giorgio hurt his elbow playing tennis.
Durante il trasloco, abbiamo avuto difficoltà a spostare il divano nella curva a gomito delle scale.
During the move, we had trouble maneuvering the sofa around the staircase's elbow bend.
Il fiume fa una curva a gomito vicino al villaggio, cambiando direzione improvvisamente.
The river makes a bend near the village, changing direction suddenly.
I lavoratori portavano giacche con i gomiti logori.
The workers wore jackets with worn elbows.
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Idioms with gomito 🇮🇹
Alzare il gomito
→ To drink heavily
Ieri ha alzato un po’ troppo il gomito e stamattina aveva mal di testa.
Yesterday he drank a little too much and had a headache this morning.
Farsi largo a gomitate
→ To elbow one's way through
Al concerto si è fatto largo a gomitate per arrivare in prima fila.
At the concert, he elbowed his way to the front row.
Gomito a gomito
→ Side by side
Abbiamo lavorato gomito a gomito tutto il giorno.
We worked side by side all day.
Baciarsi i gomiti
→ To be over the moon
Ha trovato casa in centro a metà prezzo: può baciarsi i gomiti!
He found a home downtown for half the price: he’s over the moon!
Note: It is an expression used when something you thought was impossible actually happens, filling you with such joy that you feel as if you could even kiss your elbows in excitement → Se succede, mi bacio i gomiti / If it happens, I’d be over the moon.
Where does the word gomito come from? 🔎
Gomito comes from the Latin "cŭbĭtus," which also signifies the forearm and the standard unit of measure roughly the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger.
Did you know that... 🤓
The cubit (cubito, i.e. gomito in old Italian) was the most prevalent unit of measurement in ancient times. It was defined as the length from the elbow to the fingertips. While the cubit remained a standard measure through the medieval period in several regions, it was eventually supplanted by the "arm," which spanned from the fingertips to the shoulder. In specific locales such as Tuscany, prior to the unification and standardization under the metric system in 1860 following its integration into the Kingdom of Italy, the cubit measured precisely 58.4 cm.
