pioggia mista a neve
feminine
The English word sleet can be translated into Italian as pioggia mista a neve. If unsure, use pioggia mista a neve. Wiktionary also lists acquaneve.
Meaning: precipitation of rain–snow mixture (noun)
Ways to say it
| Italian | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| pioggia mista a neve | feminine | |
| acquaneve | /ˌak.kwaˈne.ve/ | feminine, informal |
The term refers to precipitation consisting of a mixture of rain and snow.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase pioggia mista a neve literally translates to rain mixed with snow.
Which one should you use?
While pioggia mista a neve describes the mixture, the word nevischio is often used to describe the specific weather phenomenon of light, icy sleet or a sleet shower. Additionally, acquaneve is a single-word way to refer to sleet compared to the descriptive pioggia mista a neve.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
acquaneve is a more informal term. For formal contexts, you may use the phrase precipitazioni miste to mean mixed precipitation.
Did you know?
- The word neve comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *snígʷʰs, which is an ancient relative of the English word 'snow'.
- In some Italian dialects, people might describe sleet as pioggia gelata ('frozen rain'), even if the water hasn't fully turned to ice yet.
- The Italian word for rain, pioggia, is a linguistic relative of the Latin word 'pluvial', which is where we get the English word 'pluvial' relating to rainfall.
Examples in context
- Piove neve mista a pioggiaIt's snowing mixed with rain
- C'è una leggera pioggia mista a neve oggi.There is a light sleet today.
- La pioggia mista a neve rende la strada scivolosa.The sleet makes the road slippery.
- Preferisco la neve alla pioggia mista a neve.I prefer snow to sleet.
Example conversation
Alessandro and Martina are looking out the window.
- AlessandroGuarda, sta iniziando a cadere pioggia mista a neve.Look, sleet is starting to fall.
- MartinaHai ragione, che tempo terribile!You're right, what terrible weather!
- AlessandroPrendiamo l'ombrello o il cappotto?Should we take the umbrella or the coat?
- MartinaPrendiamo entrambi, visto che c'è pioggia mista a neve.Let's take both, since there is sleet.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “sleet” translations and entries acquaneve, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries a, acquaneve, neve, pioggia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
