Skip to content

travestire

to disguise

verb trah-veh-STEE-reh Rare
Arts & Culture Performance

Origin: From Latin trans- (across) + vestire (to dress).

Also means

to dress up

Usage Note

Travestire means to disguise or dress someone in costume. The reflexive travestirsi ('to disguise oneself/dress up') is more common in everyday speech: mi sono travestito da vampiro ('I dressed up as a vampire'). Takes essere as auxiliary in the reflexive: si è travestita. Do not confuse with travestito (noun: a transvestite/crossdresser) — context matters.

Examples

"I bambini si sono travestiti per carnevale."

Natural Translation

The children dressed up for carnival.

Literal Translation

The children themselves dressed-up for carnival.

Explore Italian by topic