briciola
/ˈbri.ʃo.la/feminine
The Italian word for crumb is briciola.
briciola refers to a small piece of biscuit, cake, etc.
Meaning: small piece of biscuit, cake, etc (noun)
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The singular feminine noun is briciola, while the plural form is briciole (crumbs).
How do you pronounce it?
The word is pronounced /ˈbri.ʃo.la/. It has 3 syllables, with the stress on the first syllable.
Did you know?
- While briciola describes a tiny fragment, the soft inner part of a bread loaf is called mollica. Italian makes a strict lexical distinction between a 'crumb' that falls and the 'crumb' inside the bread.
- In Italian, the term mollica can be used colloquially to describe someone who is soft or lacks character. It transforms the physical texture of bread into a personality trait.
- In Italy, you might encounter a 'sbrisolona', which is a famous, crumbly cake that uses the same linguistic root as 'crumb'.
Examples in context
- briciole di paneBread crumbs
- C'è una briciola sul tavolo.There is a crumb on the table.
- Ho trovato una briciola nel mio letto.I found a crumb in my bed.
- Pulisci ogni singola briciola.Clean up every single crumb.
Example conversation
Matteo and Martina are cleaning the kitchen together.
- MatteoMartina, guarda questa briciola per terra.Martina, look at this crumb on the floor.
- MartinaOh, scusa! Ho mangiato un biscotto.Oh, sorry! I ate a biscuit.
- MatteoPrendi l'aspirapolvere per favore.Get the vacuum cleaner please.
- MartinaSì, tolgo subito ogni briciola.Yes, I'll remove every crumb right away.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “crumb” translations and entries briciola, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
