Pipistrello
/ˌpipiˈstrɛllo/noun
An Italian word for a bat.
Did you know?Pipistrello comes from the same Latin root as the English word 'vespertilion' for bats, tied to the old idea of the bat as a twilight creature of the evening.
Etymological Timeline
Latin era
Late Latin
vespertilio
“a bat; literally a creature of the evening”
Medieval Latin
Latin
vĕspĕr
“evening, the time of sunset”
Old Italian
Italian
pipistrello
“bat”
Modern English
English
pipistrelle
“a small bat, especially of the genus Pipistrellus”