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stessere

to unweave

verb STES-seh-reh Rare
Arts & Culture Traditions

Also means

to undo

Usage Note

Stessere is a rare literary verb meaning to unweave or undo a weave, the opposite of tessere (to weave). Its most famous cultural context is Penelope's stessere of her web in the Odyssey. In modern Italian it appears almost exclusively in literary, mythological, or metaphorical contexts; it is essentially obsolete in everyday speech.

Examples

"Penelope tesseva di giorno e stesseva di notte."

Natural Translation

Penelope wove by day and unwove by night.

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