What is the English translation of the Italian word 'bacciagalupe'?

Answer 1

"He ferries she-wolves", "He trounces she-wolves" and "Wolf-weighing pan" are three English equivalents of the Italian surname Bacigalupe.

Specifically, the name can be considered a proper noun whose occurrence as a surname dates back to the 18th to 20th centuries in the north Italian region of Liguria. Genealogists and scholars generally have no problem in agreeing on the meaning of the final part - lupe("she-wolves") - of the rare, unusual last name. The first part - baciga - nevertheless invites a host of interpretations whose accuracy depends upon the evolving Ligurian dialect:

• bacigare as the present indicative form of a present infinitive created by Italianizing the Old French noun bac ("boat, ferry") into a verb;

• bacigo as the masculine noun derived from the Latin word bacillum ("cane, walking stick employed by the lictor [bodyguard to the Roman Republic's and Empire's commanding magistrates]");

• bansiga as the feminine noun descriptive of the scales' weighing pan upon which stands a wolf in the coat of arms of the Bacigalupo/Bacigaluppofamily.

Whatever the meaning and origin, the pronunciation will be "BA-tchee-ga-LOO-pe" in Italian.

Answer 2

"Kiss of the wolf" is an English equivalent of the Italian word bacciagalupe.

Specifically, the name can serve as an Italian proper noun in its use as a surname. It translates as "kiss" from the imperative Bacia! and "wolf" from the masculine noun lupe.

The pronunciation will be "BAHT-tchah-gah-LOO-pey" in Italian.