spezia
/ˈspɛt.t͡sja/
The Italian word for spice is spezia.
Spezia refers to plant matter used to season or flavour food. If you are talking about seasonings or flavorings added to dishes more broadly, you might use the term condimento. In an informal context, if you are referring to 'spicy stuff', you can use the phrase roba piccante.
Meaning: plant matter used to season or flavour food (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
The plural form of spezia is spezie. When you want to refer to an unspecified quantity, such as 'some spices', you use the partitive article to form delle spezie.
How do you pronounce it?
The word is pronounced /ˈspɛt.tsja/. It has two syllables, and the stress is on the first syllable.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Avoid using the singular spezia when you mean to refer to multiple 'spices' in a plural context. Instead, you must use the plural form spezie.
Did you know?
- A traditional Italian shop that sells spices and herbal remedies is called a spezieria, which is the ancestor of the modern pharmacy.
- In Italian, the word piccante refers to the heat of a chili pepper, whereas speziato refers to a complex flavor profile involving aromatic spices.
- The word spezia is actually a 'back-formation', meaning it was created by looking at the plural spezie and working backward to create a singular form.
Examples in context
- È una spezia.That's a spice.This sentence is useful for identifying a single spice using spezia.Tatoeba #10915228 by Guybrush88, translation #9361337 by CM
- Il pepe è una spezia.Pepper is a spice.This sentence is useful for identifying pepper as a specific type of spezia.Tatoeba #8786603 by carlosalberto, translation #7733825 by CK
- Per le polpette, ti consiglio di usare una buona spezia come il pepe.For the meatballs, I suggest using a good spice like pepper.
- Questa sua salsa è davvero roba piccante!Her sauce is really spicy!
- Questa spezia è molto profumata.This spice is very fragrant.
Example conversation
Sofia and Alessandro are cooking dinner together.
- SofiaAlessandro, serve un'altra spezia in questo piatto?Alessandro, does another spice go in this dish?
- AlessandroSì, aggiungi un po' di cumino.Yes, add a bit of cumin.
- SofiaNon sapevo che questa spezia fosse così forte.I didn't know this spice was so strong.
- AlessandroÈ proprio per questo che ne serve poca.That is exactly why you only need a little.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry spezia, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries spezia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
