gelato

English

Italian gelato with two tower-shaped biscuits

Alternative forms

• gelati (Australia)

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian gelato (“ice cream”), from Latin gelātus, derived from gelū (“frost, chill”), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“cold”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒəˈlɑtoʊ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dʒəˈlɑːtəʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːtəʊ
• Hyphenation: ge‧la‧to

Noun

gelato (usually uncountable, plural gelati or gelatos)

1. An Italian variant of ice cream made from milk and sugar, combined with other flavourings. The ingredients are supercooled while stirring to break up ice crystals as they form.
   • 2025 May 5, Brock Colyar, “It Must Be Nice to Be a West Village Girl”, in New York‎^[1], archived from the original on 19 May 2025:

     Now the area has been remade in their image. Every other storefront seems to be a coffee shop, a gelato shop, or a med spa.

Related terms

• gelateria

Translations

Italian-style ice cream

• Arabic: جِيلَاتِي m (jīlātī), جِيلَاتُو m (jīlātū)
• Bulgarian: джела́то n (dželáto)
• Catalan: gelat (ca) m, gelat italià m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 意式雪糕 (ji³ sik¹ syut³ gou¹)

  Mandarin: 意大利冰淇淋 (zh) (Yìdàlì bīngqílín)

• Dutch: Italiaans ijs n
• Finnish: gelato (fi), jäätelö (fi), italialainen jäätelö
• French: gelato (fr) m, glace à l'italienne f
• Georgian: ჯელატო (ǯelaṭo)
• Greek: τζελάτο n (tzeláto)
• Hebrew: גֶ׳לָאטוֹ m (jeláto)
• Hindi: जेलातो m (jelāto)
• Italian: gelato (it) m, gelato italiano m, gelato all'italiana m
• Japanese: ジェラート (ja) (jerāto)
• Korean: 젤라토 (jellato)
• Macedonian: џелато n (dželato)
• Marathi: जेलातो m (jelāto)
• Polish: gelato (pl) n
• Romanian: gelato (ro) n
• Russian: джела́то n (dželáto), жела́то n (želáto)
• Swedish: gelato (sv) c
• Thai: เจลาโต (jee-laa-dtoo)
• Turkish: Roma dondurması, gelato

Anagrams

• Goleta, legato

Italian

Etymology

From Latin gelātus, derived from gelū (“frost, chill”), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“cold”). By surface analysis, gelo (“frost, cold”) +‎ -ato (past participle suffix). Literally, “frozen.”

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒeˈla.to/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ato
• Hyphenation: ge‧là‧to

Participle

gelato (feminine gelata, masculine plural gelati, feminine plural gelate)

1. past participle of gelare

Adjective

gelato (feminine gelata, masculine plural gelati, feminine plural gelate)

1. icy, frozen, very cold

   Synonyms: freddissimo, gelido, ghiacciato

   Antonyms: ardente, bollente, caldissimo, cocente, incandescente, rovente

Noun

gelato m (plural gelati)

1. (also uncountable) ice cream, gelato

Derived terms

• gelataia
• gelataio
• gelateria
• gelatiera
• gelatiere
• gelatina

Anagrams

• legato, tegola, togale

Latin

Participle

gelātō

1. dative/ablative masculine/neuter singular of gelātus

Swedish

Noun

gelato c

1. gelato

Declension

Declension of gelato

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	gelato	gelatos
	definite	gelaton	gelatons
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

See also

• glass (“ice cream”)