normali

Normali is the plural form of the Italian adjective normale, and in technical use it refers to normals, especially in geometric and mathematical contexts. The singular form normale denotes a single normal, while normali refers to multiple normals. In everyday Italian, normale means normal or standard, and normali appears most often in scientific or engineering writing when describing several normal lines or vectors.

In geometry, a normal (normale) to a curve at a point is the line perpendicular to the tangent at that point. In three-dimensional space, a surface normal is a vector perpendicular to the tangent plane at a point on the surface. Normali are essential for describing orientation and for computations involving curvature, projections, and intersections.

In computer graphics and related fields, normali (often called vertex normals or face normals in English) are used to determine shading and lighting on 3D models. These normals influence how light interacts with a surface, affecting appearance such as brightness and smoothness. Normali can be computed per face and then averaged to produce per-vertex normals for smoother shading.

Etymology-wise, normali derive from Latin norma, meaning a standard or rule, and the term has been adopted into many languages with similar geometric usage. Outside technical contexts, normale/normal is used to mean ordinary or typical, but the plural normali is primarily a technical term in Italian.