il solleone

Parola del giorno

Today’s Parola del giorno is the masculine noun il solleone, which means summer heat or blazing sun. It can also be translated as dog days, a period in the summer (usually from late June through early August) when the summer is sweltering and sultry.

Here’s the noun used below:

A metà pomeriggio, sotto il solleone, anche i turisti più ostinati cercavano rifugio all’ombra dei portici.

In the middle of the afternoon in the summer heat, even the most determined tourists were seeking refuge in the shade of the porticoes.

Where does the noun il solleone come from? It has an interesting etymology formed from the compound of the noun il sole and Leone, the zodiac sign (Leo) of the hottest period of the summer when the sun is in that sign.