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mortaio

mortar

noun mor-TAH-yoh Rare
Food & Drink Utensils

Origin: Latin mortarium, a vessel for pounding.

Usage Note

Mortaio refers to the bowl-shaped vessel used with a pestle (il pestello) to grind spices and herbs — the pair is mortaio e pestello. In Italian cooking, pesto alla genovese is traditionally made in a mortaio. The word also means mortar in the military or construction sense. Plural: i mortai.

Examples

"Macina le spezie nel mortaio."

Natural Translation

Grind the spices in the mortar.

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