In English, halitosis is the medical term for bad breath. In Italian, alito means a breath, and it is frequently used to describe bad breath. It comes from the Latin, halitus, which in turn comes from the verb, halare, or to breathe, exhale.
Example:
‘Lavati i denti, Giovanbattista! Hai un alito molto cattivo!’ – Brush your teeth, John the Baptist! You have bad breath!
In a figurative sense, alito also means a breath, as in a gust of wind.
Example:
‘Non c’è un alito di vento’ – There is no gust of wind. (As in, the air is still, and it’s suffocating).
