ciliegia
/t͡ʃiˈljɛ.d͡ʒa/feminine
The Italian word for cherry is ciliegia.
ciliegia refers to the fruit. It can also be used as an adjective to describe a cherry-red color.
Meaning: fruit (noun)
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
ciliegia is a feminine noun. Its plural form is ciliegie.
How do you pronounce it?
The word has three syllables, with the stress on the second syllable: /tʃiˈljɛ.dʒa/.
When do people say it?
When referring to cherries as a food item or a quantity of fruit, the plural form ciliegie is much more common than the singular form.
Did you know?
- The word ciliegia was shaped by double hypercorrection in Tuscan dialect, where speakers mistakenly changed an 'r' to 'l' and an 's' to 'g' to avoid sounding like they were from Lombardy.
- The phrase la ciliegina sulla torta is the Italian equivalent of 'the icing on the cake' or 'the cherry on top'.
- Certain traditional Italian desserts use amarena, a specific type of dark, sour cherry, which is treated as a distinct category from the standard ciliegia.
Examples in context
- La ciliegia è rossa.The cherry is red.This sentence shows how to use ciliegia to describe the color of the fruit.Tatoeba #3324824 by Guybrush88, translation #3660171 by ajdavidl
- Questa ciliegia è rosso scuro.This cherry is dark red.This sentence shows ciliegia used in the context of color intensity.Tatoeba #3324825 by Guybrush88, translation #3326269 by Vanilla
- Mangeremo una deliziosa ciliegia.We will eat a delicious cherry.This sentence demonstrates how to use ciliegia when talking about eating the fruit.Tatoeba #9755316 by Guybrush88, translation #9725043 by ariarin
- La torta è decorata con ciliegie fresche.The cake is decorated with fresh cherries.
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Giulia and Francesco are at a fruit market.
- GiuliaQuanto costa una ciliegia?How much is one cherry?
- FrancescoIl chilo è a cinque euro.The kilo is five euros.
- GiuliaPrendo un chilo di ciliegia.I'll take a kilo of cherry.
- FrancescoCertamente, ecco qui.Certainly, here it is.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “cherry” translations and entries ciliegia, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ciliegia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
