svevo

Swabian, person from Swabia

noun adjective ZVEH-voh Rare

Origin: From Latin Suevus, referring to the Germanic tribe the Suebi (Swabians) who settled in southern Germany.

Also means

relating to Swabia (adjective)

Usage Note

Svevo as a noun/adjective refers to Swabia (a historical German region) or its people, and is historically significant in Italy because the Swabian Hohenstaufen dynasty ruled southern Italy and Sicily in the 12th–13th centuries (il periodo svevo). Italo Svevo is also the pen name of the famous Triestine novelist (born Ettore Schmitz), making svevo a culturally loaded word in Italian literary history.

Examples

"La dominazione sveva in Sicilia durò quasi un secolo."

Natural Translation

Swabian rule in Sicily lasted almost a century.

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