Le parti del corpo
(Parts of the body in Italian)
The following is a list of common parts of the body in Italian. I have included the article (il/la) before the noun so that you can learn whether it is a masculine or feminine word. You will notice that there are some words that are masculine in singular and feminine in plural… pay attention to these, they are marked.
La testa – The head
la bocca: mouth
la guancia: cheek (plural: le guance)
il mento: chin
la narice: nostril (plural: le narici)
il naso: nose
l’occhio: eye (plural: gli occhi)
l’orecchio: ear (plural: le orecchie – it is feminine in its plural form. Gli orecchi does exist though is not common)
le sopracciglia: eyebrows (singular = il sopracciglio. Yes, in singular form it is masculine. In plural, the feminine sopracciglia is the most common form though note that i sopraccigli does exist, however you will not hear or see it much).
Le altre parti della testa – Other parts of the head
le ciglia: eyelashes (singular: il ciglio – yes, it’s masculine in singular form)
il collo: neck
il dente: tooth (plural: i denti)
la fronte: forehead
il labbro: lip (plural: le labbra)
la lingua: tongue
le palpebre: eyelid (singular: la palpebra)
la testa: head
il viso: face
Le braccia – The arms
l’ascella: armpit (plural: le ascelle)
l’avambraccio: forearm (plural: gli avambracci)
il braccio: arm (plural: le braccia – feminine in plural form)
il gomito: elbow (plural: i gomiti)
il palmo: palm (plural: i palmi)
il polso: wrist (plural: i polsi)
la spalla: shoulder (plural: le spalle)
La mano e le dita – The hand and fingers
la mano: hand (plural: le mani)
il dito: finger (plural: le dita – refers to fingers collectively; the plural diti (masc.) refers to fingers considered individually – i.e. diti medi, diti mignoli)
Quali sono i nomi delle dita della mano? (What are the names of the fingers?)
- il mignolo: little finger (= pinkie)
- l’anulare: ring finger
- il medio: middle finger
- l’indice: index finger
- il pollice: thumb (plural: i pollici)
- l’unghia: nail (plural: le unghie)
- la nocca: knuckle (plural: le nocche)
- il polso: wrist (plural: i polsi)
La gamba e il piede – The leg and foot
lo stinco: shin (plural: gli stinchi)
il dito del piede: toe (plural: le dita dei piedi)
la coscia: thigh (plural: le cosce)
il piede: foot (plural: i piedi)
la gamba: leg (plural: le gambe)
il ginocchio: knee (plural: le ginocchia when referring to a person’s knees though i ginocchi exists when referring to knees in general, though is not common)
la caviglia: ankle (plural: le caviglie)
il polpaccio: calf muscle (plural: i polpacci)
il tallone: heel (plural: i talloni)
Note: The heel of a shoe is called il tacco (plural: i tacchi)
Le altre parti del corpo – Other parts of the body
il fianco, l’anca: hip. Fianco is more commonly used than anca which is more “medical”. (plural: i fianchi)
l’ombelico: belly button
la pancia: belly
la pelle: skin
il petto: chest
la schiena: back
Parts of the Body in Italian – Summary Chart
