squadra

Squadra is an Italian feminine noun meaning a group of people organized to achieve a common goal. It is commonly translated as “team” or “squad” in English and is used for sports teams, work crews, police or military units, and other organized groups.

In sports and everyday usage, the term appears in phrases such as squadra di calcio (football team) and squadra avversaria (opposing team). It can also describe a group performing a task, for example una squadra di manutenzione (a maintenance crew) or una squadra operativa (an operating unit).

Beyond people, squadra can refer to a measuring tool: in carpentry and technical drawing, it denotes a right-angle ruler used to draw perpendicular lines and measure angles, commonly called a set square in English.

The plural form is squadre, and the word regularly combines with adjectives and qualifying nouns to specify the kind of group, such as squadra nazionale (national team) or squadra locale (local team). It also appears in institutional names and police units, for instance la Squadra Mobile, a mobile police squad.