Spente

Spente is the feminine plural past participle form of the Italian verb spegnere, meaning to extinguish or to switch off. It is used as an adjective or in compound tenses to indicate that something has already been turned off or is no longer active. The form agrees with feminine plural nouns: le luci sono spente; le lampade si sono spente.

Etymology: Spente derives from spegnere, which itself traces to Latin exstinguere (or extinguere) and evolved through the development of Old Italian into the modern form. The feminine plural ending follows standard Italian past participle agreement rules.

Usage notes: In everyday language, spente describes lights, devices, or flames that have been extinguished, as well as metaphorical states of inactivity or dullness, such as una serata spenta or un discorso spento. The related forms include spento (masculine singular) and spenta (feminine singular), spenti (masculine plural).

See also: spegnere, spento, spegnimento.