1299 riunione meeting; reunion. 1609 riunire to gather, to reunite, to meet. Prefix ri- is an intensifier and does not mean “again”. Examples, una riunione di famiglia / riunione familiare (“a family reunion / gathering”); è in (una) riunione (“he is at a meeting”).

1301 informatico (adj.) computing; computer specialist, IT person. 3083 informatica information science, computer science, IT; (adj. and n.) fem. of informatico. Note the meaning of informatico as a noun, compared to informatica as a noun. In a Romance language, if two nouns only differ in the gender ending, usually the feminine noun has a more abstract meaning.

1304 prospettiva perspective; prospect, view, outlook. From Latin prospectivus (“prospective”). Note this word can be translated not only as “prospect” (which is obvious) but also as “perspective”. Examples, prospettiva lineare / aerea (“linear / aerial perspective”); in una prospettiva storica (“in / from a historical perspective”).

1305 tentare to attemp, to try, cercare, provare; to tempt, to allure. From Latin temptare (“to test”, “to attemp”). Cognate with tempt, Spanish tentar (“to tempt”), French tenter (“to attempt”; “to tempt”), with the root of English attempt. Note this word can mean both “to attempt” and “to tempt”. In the first sense, this word is not as common as cercare, provare.

1307 sogno (n.) dream (literal and figurative). 2821 sognare to dream. From Latin somnium (“dream”). Cognate with the root of insomnia. It’s interesting to note that in Italian, the opposite of insomnia is not “sleep” but “dream”. Examples, sogni d’oro (“sweet dreams”, literally “dreams of gold”); sognare ad occhi aperti (“to daydream”, literally “to dream with open eyes”).

1310 aggiornamento update (n.). 2082 aggiornare to update. Calque (part-by-part translation) of French ajourner (“to adjourn”, “to postpone”). The two Italian words still have the meanings of “adjournment”, “to adjourn” but are much less common. You can use a mnemonic to connect the two meanings as in “we adjourn the meeting today and will give you an update later”. But it may be easier to focus on giorno i.e. “day” in the words and think of update, but remember to interpret the prefix ag- as “up-”. Examples, l’aggiornamento di Windows 11 (“Windows 11 update”); aggiornare un libro (“to update a book”).

1312 auto car, auto. The only thing to note is that this word is feminine (in spite of -o ending) because it’s a clipping of automobile, which is feminine, and the plural is the same form. Example, due auto bianche (“two white cars / autos”; note not *autos or *auti, and not *bianchi).

1313 salire to climb, to rise, to go up. 2164 risalire to climb or rise again; to date back. From Latin salire (“to jump”). Cognate with sally (“rushing forth”; “sortie of troops from a defensive position to attack the enemy”), salient (“outstanding”, “conspicuous”), with Spanish salir (“to go out”) and salida (“exit”; you may have seen it at the exits of some buildings in the US). If you know Spanish, avoid misinterpreting Italian salire as “to go out”. Note the second meaning of risalire. Examples, salire le scale (“to climb stairs”); salire (su) una montagna (“to climb a mountain”); il calendario gregoriano risale al XVI secolo (“the Gregorian calendar dates back to the 16th century”).

1316 ordinamento order (n.), sorting, arrangement. Not to be confused with English ordinary, ordinarily (which would be ordinario, ordinariamente in Italian).

1317 educazione manners, etiquette, politeness, education (advising or upbringing or teaching manners or politeness or morals). Note that English education is rarely translated as educazione, but as istruzione (“education through schooling or study”) instead. Example, la sua mancanza di educazione disgusta (“his lack of manners is disgusting”). See also istruzione.

1319 mangiare to eat. From Latin manducare (“to chew”, “to eat”) through Old French. Cognate with manger, manducate (“to chew”, “to masticate”), mandible (“jaw”), French manger (“to eat”). A manger in a stable or barn is a trough which animals eat from; most people know the Christmas carol “Away in a Manger”. Alternatively, use munch (“to chew with crunching sound”) as a mnemonic. Examples, cosa vuoi mangiare? (“what do you want to eat?”); mangiare un piatto di spaghetti (“to eat a plate of spaghetti”); hai mangiato? (“did you eat?”, “have you eaten?”).

1321 anima soul, spirit. From Latin anima (“soul”). Cognate with animal, Spanish alma and French âme (“soul”). Latin anima has entered English as well, as a term in philosophy or psychology.

1322 nemmeno not even, neanche. From né (“not”) + meno (“less”). Examples, nemmeno / neanche oggi non lo sappiamo (“even today we don’t know it”, literally the double-negative “not even today we don’t know it”); non provarci nemmeno (“don’t even try it”).

1325 assistere (followed by a) to attend, to be present (at); to assist. From Latin assistere (“to appear before”, “to stand or take position near”). Cognate with assist, Spanish asistir and French assister (“to attend”; “to assist”). As in Spanish and French, this Italian word often means “to attend”, unlike English assist, which has lost this sense. The root of the Latin etymon is cognate with stand, a fact that may help remember this sense. Examples, assistere ad un seminario (“to attend a seminar”; note the preposition); un assistente medico assiste il medico (“a medical assistant assists the doctor”; note no preposition).

1328 conseguire to attain, to obtain, to get, to achieve. From Latin consequi (“to chase”, “to follow”). Cognate with consequent, Spanish conseguir (“to achieve”, “to get”). The root is cognate with English sequent, sequel. This word can be analyzed as con- (intensifier) + seguire (“to follow”). If you relentlessly follow something, you will achieve or get or reach it. Examples, conseguire una vittoria (“to achieve a victory”); ha conseguito una laurea triennale in linguistica (“he got a three-year degree in linguistics”). See also seguire.