microonde
/mi.kroˈon.de/
The English phrase microwave is microonde in Italian.
microonde is an ellipsis of microwave oven.
Meaning: ellipsis of microwave oven (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The word is a compound of micro- (micro) and onde (waves).
How does it change in a sentence?
microonde is a masculine noun.
How do you pronounce it?
The word has 4 syllables, with the stress on the 3rd syllable. The IPA pronunciation is /mi.kroˈon.de/.
Did you know?
- Because microonde is a masculine noun, it uses the masculine article il despite the word onda meaning 'wave' being feminine.
- Unlike English where 'microwave' can be a verb, Italian does not use microonde as an action. To say 'to microwave' something, Italians use the phrase scaldare al microonde meaning 'to heat in the microwave'.
- In many Italian households, people skip the word microonde entirely and simply refer to the appliance as il forno, which means 'the oven'.
Examples in context
- Lo metta nel microonde.Put it in the microwave.Tatoeba #9714724 by Guybrush88, translation #9472142 by DJ_Saidez
- Tom non ha un microonde.Tom doesn't have a microwave oven.Tatoeba #2799226 by Guybrush88, translation #1026169 by CK
- Posso usare il microonde?Can I use the microwave?Tatoeba #13871909 by Nuel, translation #13871907 by Nuel
- Ho scaldato la cena nel forno a microonde.I heated the dinner in the microwave.
- Puoi usare il forno a microonde per scongelare il cibo.You can use the microwave to defrost the food.
- Posso usare il microonde per scaldare il latte?Can I use the microwave to heat the milk?
- Passami il micro, per favore! Voglio riscaldare la pasta.Pass me the microwave, please! I want to heat up the pasta.
- 67 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Chiara and Alessandro are in the kitchen preparing lunch.
- ChiaraRiscaldo il pane nel microonde?Shall I warm the bread in the microwave?
- AlessandroSì, è più veloce così.Yes, it's faster that way.
- ChiaraDove hai messo il microonde?Where did you put the microwave?
- AlessandroÈ lì, sopra il bancone.It's there, on the counter.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry microonde, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
