molto

See also: moltó

Italian

Etymology

From Latin multus, from Proto-Indo-European *ml̥tos (“crumbled, crumpled”, past passive participle). Compare Portuguese muito, Romanian mult, Catalan molt.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmol.to/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -olto
• Hyphenation: mól‧to

Adverb

molto (superlative moltissimo)

1. much, very much, a lot

   A essere onesto, non mi piace molto.

   I don't like it very much, to be frank.

2. (with an adverb or adjective) very, really, very much

   Si stava facendo molto tardi, se non fosse partito, avrebbe perso l'aereo.

   It was getting very late, and if he didn't go, he would miss his plane.

   Il gioco ha regole molto semplici.

   The game has very simple rules.

3. (in expressions of comparison) much, far, a lot

   I ghiacciai si sciolgono molto più velocemente di quanto atteso.

   Glaciers melting much faster than expected.

4. long, a long time

   È molto che aspetti?

   Have you been waiting long?

Antonyms

• (much; a lot): poco

Determiner

molto (feminine molta, masculine plural molti, feminine plural molte, superlative moltissimo)

1. a lot of, much, great, (in the plural) many, a lot of, lots of

   Voglio molti amici. ― I want many friends.

   Ho mangiato molta cioccolata ultimamente. ― I've been eating a lot of chocolate lately.

2. great, much, very

   Fa molto freddo. ― It's very cold.

   Dobbiamo procedere con molta attenzione. ― We must proceed with great care.

Antonyms

• (much; a lot): poco

Pronoun

molto (feminine molta, masculine plural molti, feminine plural molte)

1. much, a lot, (in the plural) many, many people

   Non ci vuole molto per far piangere una donna incinta. ― It doesn't take much to make a pregnant woman cry.

   Queste scarpe mi sono sempre piaciute e ne ho comprate molte nel corso degli anni. ― I have always liked these shoes, and have bought many of them over the years.

   Per molti il ballo è una passione. ― Dancing is a passion for many people.

Noun

molto m (uncountable)

1. the many
2. the large part
3. a great deal

See also

• multi-, molti-

Latin

Alternative forms

• multō, montō, muttō, mutō

Etymology

Borrowed from Gaulish *multon-, from Proto-Celtic *moltos (“wether”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈmol.toː/, [ˈmɔɫ̪t̪oː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmol.to/, [ˈmɔl̪t̪o]

Noun

moltō m (genitive moltōnis); third declension

1. (Medieval Latin) wether

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	moltō	moltōnēs
Genitive	moltōnis	moltōnum
Dative	moltōnī	moltōnibus
Accusative	moltōnem	moltōnēs
Ablative	moltōne	moltōnibus
Vocative	moltō	moltōnēs

Descendants

• Catalan: moltó
• Old French: mouton, moton, multon, multum, mutun, multun
  • Middle French: mouton
    • French: mouton
      • Haitian Creole: mouton
      • Louisiana Creole: mouton
      • Seychellois Creole: mouton
      • → English: mouton
      • >? Galician: motóa
  • Norman: mouton
  • Walloon: moton
  • → Middle English: motoun, moton, motun, moten, mutoun, motone, mutton, motton, motene
    • English: mutton
    • Scots: mutton
    • Yola: muthon, mothoon
• Italian: montone
• Sicilian: muntuni
  • → Maltese: muntun

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmol͈to/

Noun

molto

1. genitive singular of molad

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
molto also mmolto after a proclitic	molto pronounced with /ṽ(ʲ)-/	unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.