Skip to content

fante

foot soldier

noun FAHN-teh Rare

Origin: Latin infans (infant, foot soldier)

Also means

jack (playing card)

Usage Note

Fante has two distinct uses: in military history it means an infantry soldier, and in Italian playing cards it is the knave or jack (equivalent to the face card). The plural is fanti. In card games, il fante di cuori means the jack of hearts.

Examples

"Il fante avanzò sotto il fuoco nemico."

Natural Translation

The foot soldier advanced under enemy fire.

Explore Italian by topic