avena
/aˈve.na/feminine
The Italian word for oats is avena.
avena refers to the seeds of an oat plant.
Meaning: seeds of an oat plant (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
avena is a feminine noun.
How do you pronounce it?
The word has three syllables and is pronounced /aˈve.na/. The stress is on the second syllable.
Did you know?
- If you are looking for oatmeal in a recipe, searching for just avena might give you scientific results, whereas porridge is often used to describe the prepared dish in modern Italian cooking.
- The word avena comes directly from the Latin word avēna, meaning it has remained virtually unchanged in its written form for over two thousand years.
- Unlike English, where 'oats' is almost always plural, avena is used as a collective singular noun in Italian to describe the entire crop or the food substance.
Examples in context
- In una scatola di cartone ha frutta, uvetta, noci, avena, kefir e pesce in scatola, in particolare sardine, tonno e sgombro.In a cardboard box she has fruit, raisins, nuts, oats, kefir and canned fish, namely sardines, tuna and mackerel.This sentence is useful for seeing how to list avena among other food items.Tatoeba #13730616 by Guybrush88, translation #3492318 by neron
- Io compro l'avena per preparare la colazione.I buy oats to prepare breakfast.
- Mi piace fare una colazione sana con i fiocchi d'avena.I enjoy having a healthy breakfast with oat flakes.
- Ho comprato farina d'avena per preparare dei biscotti vegani.I bought oat flour to make some vegan cookies.
- Preferisco i cereali d'avena con la frutta secca.I prefer oat cereals with dried fruits.
- L'avena è ottima per la colazione.Oats are great for breakfast.
- Vuoi aggiungere dell'avena allo yogurt?Do you want to add some oats to the yogurt?
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
A kitchen in the morning.
- FrancescoHai comprato l'avena per la colazione?Did you buy oats for breakfast?
- SofiaSì, l'avena è nel mobile della cucina.Yes, the oats are in the kitchen cabinet.
- FrancescoPerfetto, la preparo subito.Perfect, I will prepare it right away.
- SofiaGrazie, Francesco.Thanks, Francesco.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “oats” translations and entries avena, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries avena, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
