# Italy

> English word · Proper noun · IPA /ˈɪtəli/ · frequency rank #2,212

## Definitions
1. A country in Southern Europe. Official names: Italian Republic and Republic of Italy. Capital and largest city: Rome.
2. Synonym of Apennine Peninsula.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Oscan 𐌅𐌝𐌕𐌄𐌋𐌉𐌞 (víteliú)bor.?
Ancient Greek Ῑ̓ταλίᾱ (Ītalíā)der.
Latin Italiabor.
Old English Italia
English Italy
Inherited from Old English Italia. Usually explained as a cognate of vitulus (“calf”), thus meaning "land of young bulls" in Oscan. In that case, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wet- (“year”). According to some ancient Greek authors, named after a king Italus or Italos, whose kingdom was on the peninsula. Doublet of Italia.

## Easily confused with
- **itty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/italy-vs-itty)
- **itchy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/italy-vs-itchy)
- **idly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/idly-vs-italy)
- **it'll** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/it-ll-vs-italy)
- **imply** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/imply-vs-italy)
- **Italia** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/italia-vs-italy)
- **italic** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/italic-vs-italy)

## Common misspellings (7)
`iatly`, `itally`, `italyy`, `itayl`, `itlay`, `ittaly`, `tialy`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/italy