Città, paesi e abitanti con il metodo natura

What does “paese” mean in Italian?

Paese is a small word with two meanings. It can mean a whole country — France, Italy and Germany are each a paese — and it can also mean a small town or village. The words around it tell you which one is meant. The plural is paesi. You meet this word early, because it is one of the basic ways to talk about places and where people live.

Here the word shows up in its “country” sense: “La Francia è un paese” (France is a country), then “La Francia e l’Italia sono 2 paesi d’Europa” (France and Italy are two countries of Europe). The “village” sense is just as common in daily life — “torno al paese” means going back to your home village. Paese comes from the Latin pagus, a country district or village; the same root gave English “pagan” and “peasant.” You will also meet it in Paesi Bassi, the Italian name for the Netherlands (the “low countries”).