Spiraglio
NOUN [masculine]
Meaning and English translation 🔖
Small Opening, Crack, Chink
🇬🇧 Small opening through which air and light can pass.
🇮🇹 Piccola apertura attraverso cui passano aria e luce.
| Masculine ♂️ | Feminine ♀️ | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | lo - uno spiraglio | - |
| Plural | gli - degli spiragli | - |
Example sentences 💬
La luce del Sole entrava da uno spiraglio nella persiana.
Sunlight was coming through a gap in the shutter.
Aprì appena la porta, lasciando solo uno spiraglio per sbirciare fuori.
She barely opened the door, leaving just a crack to peek through.
Lo spiraglio tra le rocce rivelava un paesaggio mozzafiato dall'altra parte.
The gap between the rocks revealed a breathtaking landscape on the other side.
Dopo tanta pioggia, finalmente si è aperto uno spiraglio nel cielo pieno di nuvole.
After so much rain, a small break finally appeared in the cloud-filled sky.
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Idioms with spiraglio 🇮🇹
Uno spiraglio di luce
→ A glimmer of light / A small ray of hope
In quella situazione buia, finalmente apparve uno spiraglio di luce.
In that dark situation, a glimmer of light finally appeared.
Uno spiraglio di speranza
→ A glimmer of hope
Le nuove cure offrono uno spiraglio di speranza ai malati.
The new treatments offer a glimmer of hope to the patients.
Aprire uno spiraglio
→ To create an opening
Le sue parole hanno aperto uno spiraglio nella trattativa.
His words created an opening in the negotiations.
Vedere uno spiraglio
→ To see a way out / a small opening
Dopo mesi di crisi, finalmente si vede uno spiraglio.
After months of crisis, we can finally see a small opening.
Lasciare uno spiraglio
→ To leave room for
Ha lasciato uno spiraglio per future trattative.
She left the door open for future negotiations.
Chiudere ogni spiraglio
→ To close off every possibility
Il suo rifiuto ha chiuso ogni spiraglio di dialogo.
His refusal shut down any possibility of dialogue.
Where does the word spiraglio come from? 🔎
Spiraglio comes from the Latin spiraculum, derived from the verb spirare (to breathe, to blow). The Latin term indicated an opening through which air could pass, like a ventilation hole. The same root appears in Old Provençal espiralh and Old French espirail, although these forms appeared later. The semantic evolution from "air opening" to "possibility" reflects how a small opening can bring relief or hope.
