naionale

Nazionale is the Italian adjective meaning national. The standard spelling in Italian is nazionale, and the form without a z (naionale) is generally considered a misspelling. The word derives from the noun nazione (nation) and the suffix -ale, and it is used to describe things pertaining to a nation or to a nation’s government, institutions, or identity.

As an adjective, nazionale is used in a wide range of contexts to denote national scope or significance. Examples include politica nazionale (national politics), economia nazionale (national economy), and legge nazionale (national law). The feminine form is the same as the masculine form: la politica nazionale, la cultura nazionale, and so on. In plural, the adjective becomes nazionali for both genders (le imprese nazionali).

In sports and popular usage, the term is often capitalized as La Nazionale to refer to a country’s national team, most famously in football. For example, La Nazionale italiana di calcio denotes Italy’s national football team. The nickname is widely used in media and fan discourse, sometimes extending to other national squads such as La Nazionale di rugby or La Nazionale di basket.

Beyond sports, nazionale also appears in governmental and public agencies to convey national scope, such as reti televisive o radiofoniche con or senza prefisso nazionale, and in phrases like patrimonio nazionale or patrimonio culturale nazionale. These usages emphasize the broad sense of belonging to or representing an entire nation.