bardassa

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic بَرْدَج (bardaj, “slave”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /barˈdas.sa/
• Rhymes: -assa
• Hyphenation: bar‧dàs‧sa

Noun

bardassa m or f by sense (masculine plural bardassi, feminine plural bardasse)

1. (literary, derogatory) young prostitute (regardless of gender)

   Synonyms: cinedo, bagascia

2. (literary, derogatory) brat, kid (regardless of gender)

   Synonyms: ragazzaccio, giovinastro

   Quel ragazzo è una bardassa! ― That boy is a berdache!

3. (dialectal, especially in Lombardy) a young boy or girl (cf. "bardassuola"; "ragazzino")

Usage notes

• Always conjugated in the grammatically feminine sense, even when referring to a male.

Derived terms

• bardassaccia
• bardassone
• bardassuola

Descendants

• → French: bardache
  • → English: bardash, berdache
  • → Portuguese: berdache

Further reading

• bardassa in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana