Vlog di una giornata di vacanza a Vasto
B1 Italian listening practice · Italian · Curated for intermediate learners
Why does “laureato” mean a graduate in Italian?
An Italian who finishes university is laureato, and on graduation day still wears a corona di alloro — a laurel wreath — on the head. That is not a coincidence: laurea (the degree) and laureato both come from Latin laurus, the laurel. The Romans crowned victorious generals and poets with laurel; the university kept the symbol of triumph and wisdom. So laurearsi literally means “to be laurel-crowned.”
The clip spots a Roman portrait “laureato perché in testa una corona di alloro” and links it straight to today’s graduation crown. The same root gives English “laureate” (as in Nobel laureate or poet laureate) and the name Laura. In Italy the wreath is usually woven with the colour of the graduate’s faculty.