2234 cancellare to cancel, annullare; to delete, to erase, to wipe out, eliminare. Note the second meaning. Examples, cancellare / annullare un appuntamento (“to cancel an appointment”); cancellare / eliminare un file (“to delete a file”).

2236 arco arc; arch; bow, (music instrument) string. Italian, like Spanish, uses this single word for all the three meanings. Examples, la spiaggia a forma di arco (“the beach in the shape of an arch / arc”); arco di trionfo (“triumphal arch”); tiro / tirare con l’arco (“archery”, literally “shooting with the bow”); quartetto d’archi (“string quartet”).

2238 sciopero (n.) strike, work stoppage. From Latin ex- (“out”) + opero (“work”). As a mnemonic, think of sci- as if it was a prefix equivalent to ex-, although it is Italian s- and occasionally es- that decend from Latin ex-. Examples, essere in / / entrare in / fare sciopero (“to be on strike”, “to go on strike”); sciopero della fame (“hunger strike”).

2239 dispositivo device. From French dispositif (“device”), from Latin dispositus (“disposed”, “arranged”). Cognate with dispose, disposal, Spanish dispositivo. A device you use in your life or at work is at your disposal. Examples, un dispositivo medico (“a medical device”); dispositivo de seguridad (“safety device”).

2242 disagio discomfort, uneasiness, (plural) hardships, inconvenience. 4483 agio ease. From Latin adiacens (“adjacent”). Cognate with adjacent, ease, French aise (“ease”). If you’re willing to be adjacent with someone, you feel ease with him or her. Examples, mi fa sentire a disagio (“he makes me feel discomfort”); sentirsi a proprio agio (“to feel at ease”).

2244 concedere to grant; to concede, to allow, to accord. Note the first meaning. There is a slight difference between the two senses; granting is active while conceding or allowing is passive. Example, concedere l’accesso / un prestito a (“to grant access / a loan to”).

2252 collaboratore collaborator; contributor (of a newspaper). Note the second meaning. Examples, un collaboratore di un giornale (“a newspaper contributor”); collaboratore esterno (“freelance contributor”, literally “external collaborator / contributor”).

2261 incidere to engrave, to carve; to influence. From Latin incidere (“to cut in”). Cognate with incise, incision, incisor, French inciser. The third syllable consonant of the Latin word changed from d to s for a frequentative sense, and the word was inherited by French and entered English. Unrelated to incident (the root of which means “to fall”). Examples, incidere un’iscrizione (“to engrave an inscription”); incidere un disco (“to record a disc”); una grande spesa incide sul bilancio (“a big expense affects the budget”; think of incidere as cutting into)

2262 edilizio, 5045 edile (adj.) building. From Latin aedilis (“aedile”, “Ancient Roman official responsible for maintenance of public buildings”). Cognate with Spanish edil (“mayor”), French édile (“city councilor”), with the first element of English edifice, in which -fice can be traced to a Latin word meaning “to make” (think of the second element of manufacture). Examples, impresa edile (“construction company”); piano edilizio (“building plan”).

2267 delega delegation; proxy. Note the second meaning. Example, per delega (“by proxy”, “by power of attorney”, literally “for delegate / delegation”).

2271 licenza license, (n.) permit; permission, permesso. Note the second meaning. Examples, licenza di caccia (“hunting license”); chiedere / dare licenza di fare (“to ask / give permission to do”).

2272 polo pole (of earth, magnet, etc.); polo. Note the first meaning. To say a pole you can erect, use palo instead. Not to be confused with pollo (“chicken”), which is even pronounced differently with its long consonant (geminate consonants). Example, il Polo Sud / Nord (“the South / North Pole”).

2273 banda band, stripe, strip, tape; music band, banda musicale; gang. Note the third meaning. Examples, banda larga (“broadband”); un membro della banda (“a gang member”).

2274 decennio decade. From Latin decennium (“decade”), from decem (“ten”) + annus (“year”) + -ium. The first element is cognate with decimal, December (“tenth month of the old Roman calendar”). Try splitting the word as dec- (for “ten”) and -ennio (for “year”; think of annual).

2275 sollevare to lift, to raise; to relieve. From Latin sublevare (“to lift”, “to raise”). The prefix sub- is adapted to sol- in front of l in Italian. The root is cognate with levitate, levy, lever. The reason for this prefix which apparently means “below” is that you lift something up from below or under, or from a low position. Example, sollevare pesi (“to lift weights”).