Which Way to Rome
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
  • Travel in Italy
  • Thoughts Outside of Italy
  • Contact
  • Portfolio
  • Coming Soon
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
  • Travel in Italy
  • Thoughts Outside of Italy
  • Contact
  • Portfolio
  • Coming Soon

Which Way to Rome

the magic of getting lost but finding home wherever you are

Word of the Day: Bowl

written by September 24, 2012

As I was eating my cacio e pepe pasta out of a parmigiano bowl yesterday for lunch, I realized that I didn’t know how to say ‘bowl‘ in Italian. It’s not the first time I wondered what the word is for bowl, but this time I made a mental note to look it up. Surprisingly enough, there are a few words one can use:

Piatto fondo: yesterday, my Italian lunch mate threw out piatto fondo as the translation of bowl. Obviously this didn’t sit well with me, since it just means, a deep plate. Womp womp womp. Way to just describe what a bowl is, but not actually have a word for it, Italian language! Well that’s what I thought yesterday at least…

Scodella: (noun, f) Hellooooo bowl! Etymology: coming from scutra which in turn comes from the Greek, chytra, meaning an earthen vessel. Specifically, it means a deep round dish, or a basin.

Ciotola: (noun, f) This word specifically means a large cup/mug without a handle- so a bowl. The etymology is a bit confusing, but from what I understand it comes from the Greek, kotyle, or from the Latin, cotyla. Both meaning a large and deep cup/mug used specifically for measuring medicinal herbs and what not.

Insalatiera: (noun, f) It’s a salad bowl! Obviously coming from the Italian word for salad, insalata, it’s a vessel that is used for holding salad.

Zuppiera: (noun, f) It’s a soup bowl, or a soup tureen! Obviously coming from the Italian word for soup, zuppa, it’s a vessel that is used for holding soup. (As if in Rome you would ever eat soup… boo! to no soup in Roman cuisine.. but nonetheless, that’s the word.)

Examples:
‘Ho mangiato una ciotola di gelato per cena.’ – I ate a bowl of ice cream for dinner.
‘Il mio coinquilino ha rotto la mia insalatiera!’ – My roommate broke my salad bowl!
‘Mi passi un piatto fondo per il guacamole?’ – Would you pass me a deep dish for the guacamole?
‘Ho sempre una scodella di caramelle vicino la porta.’ – I always have a bowl full of candies near the door.
‘Ho una bella zuppiera sulla mia lista di nozze.’ – I have a beautiful soup tureen on my wedding registry.

PS– is it a coincidence that every word for ‘bowl’ in Italian is feminine? Discuss.

 

5 comments
0
Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

previous post
FotoGrafia 2012 – International Photography Festival of Rome
next post
Welcome to Italy, Huffington Post! (And you too, Arianna.)

You may also like

This Weekend in Rome: February 10 – February...

February 10, 2012

Word of the Day: Piotta

October 10, 2012

Castles and Secret Passageways

August 20, 2012

Slideshow: Christmas Lights in Rome

December 5, 2011

Word of the Day: Nubifragio

October 15, 2012

Birra Italiana

April 14, 2011

Transportation Aggravation: Strikes and Closures

April 27, 2012

Under the bench the goat dies: Italian tongue...

March 10, 2014

How to See the Pope: Papal Audiences

January 18, 2012

Travel on the Cheap: Trenitalia Promotions

September 30, 2011

This Weekend in Rome: February 10 – February...

February 10, 2012

Word of the Day: Piotta

October 10, 2012

Castles and Secret Passageways

August 20, 2012

Slideshow: Christmas Lights in Rome

December 5, 2011

Word of the Day: Nubifragio

October 15, 2012

Birra Italiana

April 14, 2011

Transportation Aggravation: Strikes and Closures

April 27, 2012

Under the bench the goat dies: Italian tongue...

March 10, 2014

How to See the Pope: Papal Audiences

January 18, 2012

Travel on the Cheap: Trenitalia Promotions

September 30, 2011

5 comments

JL Walker September 24, 2012 - 11:25 am

I totally agree that the word “bowl” doesn’t have the best translation in Italian. I grew up eating my breakfast in a cereal bowl and that’s just not a tradition around Italy. In fact, when I’m speaking Italian, I usually just say, “Mi dai un bowl?” because “ciotola” doesn’t come to mind automatically.

Reply
Zvia Shwirtz September 24, 2012 - 11:32 am

I know right! I usually just say ‘piatto’ and gesture with my hands showing that I want a deep plate..

Reply
myhomefoodthatsamore September 24, 2012 - 5:32 pm

Hello, I hope you don’t mind if I post a few ‘corrections’. You cannot say you had a ciotola di gelato, you would say you had a “coppa” di gelato. A soup plate is just that, a plate for soup. Not pasta. Pasta is supposed to be eaten on a flat plate, as is a risotto. So una zuppa or a minestra are eaten in a ‘piatto fondo’ or in a scodella. And Rome does have a very famous soup and that is egg-drop soup called “stracciatella”. In general, soups in Italy are of a v. thick consistency. On the other hand, If you want to serve a bowl of clear soup (brodo ristretto), it is supposed to be served in a procelain cup that you drink out of. A guacamole, instead, could indeed be served in a ‘ciotola’ or ‘bolo’. Apart from you are talking about soup/minestra (i.e. scodella or piatto fondo), the word ‘ciotola’ or ‘ciotolina’ (if it is small) is the closest you’ll get to ‘bowl’.

Reply
Zvia Shwirtz September 24, 2012 - 5:49 pm

Hey! Thanks for taking the time to reply to the post! When I was writing the examples I was pretty aware that none of those words are indeed used in any sort of regular basis (at least not in my 3 years of living in Rome, always with Italians). Hence the ridiculous examples… But thanks or straightening them out for me, just in case someone out there really wants to commit the words ‘ciotola’ or ‘scodella’ to memory. As for the Roman soup, I have never seen it on the menu but I sure am going to seek it out now, sounds pretty tasty. Thanks again for the comments, and if you ever want to contribute a Word of the Day, I’d be happy to see what you come up with!

Reply
bryan tyler nelson October 2, 2013 - 12:55 am

Hey there I am so delighted I found your site, I really found you by mistake, while I was researching on
Yahoo for something else, Nonetheless I am here now and
would just like to say kudos for a remarkable post and a all round exciting blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to go through it all at the moment but I have bookmarked it and also
included your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be
back to read more, Please do keep up the fantastic work.

Reply

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

About

Welcome to Which Way to Rome!

This blog is a notebook for the Eternal City, a written and visual adventure for those constantly searching for that elusive Roman light and the perfect espresso. You can find local recommendations for exploring Italy’s capital, and lots of pictures and stories from Italy and around the world. Have a click around: you’ll find favorite tours and places to go, exciting things happening now in Rome, day trips, hidden gems, and, of course, gelato recommendations.

SUBSCRIBE

Join 9,000+ subscribers and sign up to Which Way to Rome for new blog posts, tips and new photos. Let’s stay updated!

On Instagram

No images found!
Try some other hashtag or username

Keep in touch

Facebook Twitter Instagram Email
Promotion Image

THOUGHTS OUTSIDE OF ITALY

Promotion Image

PORTFOLIO

Popular Posts

  • 1

    A last post and an exciting announcement from Rome!

    May 2, 2025
  • 2

    Name change! Young in Rome becomes Which Way to Rome

    January 8, 2018
  • 3

    Things to do in Rome: attend a Virtuosi opera performance in a splendid church

    January 6, 2018
  • 4

    The subtitle of ‘The Italian Aunt’ is…

    December 6, 2017
  • 5

    Leore Worried About Time: An Italy Short Story

    October 23, 2017
  • 6

    Luxury is a state of mind: a review of The Cheat Sheet of Italian Style

    March 27, 2017
  • 7

    “A suitcase, perhaps, the past left behind”: a book review of Shadows on the Lake

    February 19, 2017
  • 8

    Waltzing into the Sistine Chapel before it actually opens: a tour with The Roman Guy

    January 5, 2017
  • 9

    Snapshot – Tunis

    April 19, 2016
  • 10

    Managing your subscription to Young In Rome

    October 1, 2013
  • Word of the Day: DAJE!

    February 23, 2012

Tweets

Missing consumer key - please check your settings in admin > Settings > Twitter Feed Auth

Registered Trademark

 

© Flavia Brunetti Proietti and Which Way to Rome™, 2019. Internationally trademarked. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author cited in the specific article and Which Way to Rome™ with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Hi, readers! We love it when you use our content - but we do work really hard on it, so please, do cite us and ask us first! Grazie mille!
Copyrighted.com Registered & Protected 
WABL-QH8C-ULPC-FCZQ
 
© Flavia Brunetti Proietti and Young In Rome, 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author cited in the specific article and Young In Rome with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Looking for more of the same?

Search YiR

Archives

My Story

A smidgen about me: growing up bouncing back and forth between Rome and Northern California, I eventually moved back to the Eternal City to finish college and then decided I liked gelato too much to move away again. Today I split my time between Tunis, where I work for an international organization, and wandering around my beloved Roma in constant search of bookstores and the perfect espresso. Read more…

Follow Me

Categories

All the Way to Italy Art & Culture (le cose belle) Day Trips (tutte le strade portano a Roma) Destinations Fashion & Shopping (la moda) Food & Drink (godiamoci la vita) Happening Now (quel che succede oggi) Historical Sites (l'antichità) Holidays & Festivals (festeggiamo) Life Style Memories Music & Nightlife (dove c'è la musica è tutto bello) Opinion & Comment (pensieri e perplessità) Photo of the Week Piccola Intervista Reviews (da condividere) Sports Travel Uncategorized Word of the Day (la parola del giorno)

On Instagram

No images found!
Try some other hashtag or username

Get In Touch

Join 9,000+ subscribers and sign up to Which Way to Rome for new blog posts, tips and new photos. Let’s stay updated!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Email
Footer Logo

® 2019 - Which Way to Rome. All Rights Reserved. Designed and Developed by Katerina Miras


Back To Top