How to Say "Minus" in Italian

meno

/ˈme.no/

The Italian word for 'minus' is meno.

In mathematics, meno is used as a preposition to mean 'minus' or 'less'.

Meaning: mathematics: less (prep)

Which one should you use?

In mathematical subtraction, meno is used to mean 'minus' or 'less'.

The word meno is used to tell time when counting backwards from the hour, such as dieci meno cinque for 'ten minus five' to mean 9:55.
In Italian, the phrase meno male literally means 'less bad' but is used as a common idiom for 'thank goodness' or 'it is a good thing'.
In Italian music notation, terms involving meno are used to indicate a slight decrease in speed, such as meno mosso for 'less motion'.

Quanto fa nove meno sei?
How many is nine minus six?
This sentence is useful for asking what nine minus six equals using meno.
Tatoeba #5220907 by Guybrush88, translation #519105 by blay_paul
Otto meno quattro fa quattro.
Eight minus four is four.
This sentence is useful for stating that eight minus four equals four using meno.
Tatoeba #3038426 by rado, translation #6616411 by shekitten
Il rover di Mercurio evita il lato diurno dove le temperature possono superare i 400 gradi Celsius, ma viaggia sul lato notturno dove le temperature sono inferiori a meno 100 gradi Celsius.
The Mercury rover avoids the day side where temperatures can be over 400 degrees Celsius, but travels on the night side where temperatures are colder than minus 100 degrees Celsius.
This sentence is useful for describing temperatures that are less than minus 100 degrees Celsius using meno.
Tatoeba #10773446 by nonong, translation #10773436 by nonong
Il risultato della sottrazione di dieci meno cinque è cinque.
The result of the subtraction of ten minus five is five.

Martina and Matteo are doing homework together.

Sources

Wiktionary, “minus” translations and entries meno, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.

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