tropicale

Tropicale is the Italian adjective meaning “tropical” and is used to refer to things related to the tropics—the region roughly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. In Italian it agrees with the noun it modifies: il clima tropicale, la regione tropicale, i climi tropicali, le regioni tropicali. The term also appears in other Romance languages with similar forms, such as French, where tropicale is the feminine form, and is widely understood in many languages to indicate tropical origin or characteristics.

Etymology: tropicale derives from Latin tropicus, via French tropical, ultimately from Greek tropikos, related to turning or turning toward the sun. The word has long been used to describe the zone where the sun’s path causes the most pronounced seasonal shifts in daylight and climate.

Usage: In geography and ecology, tropicale describes climates and biomes with high year‑round temperatures and substantial rainfall, such as tropical rainforests and tropical savannas. In climate discussions the term is often used in ordinary language alongside classifications such as the Köppen system (Af, Am, Aw) to describe regions whose mean monthly temperatures stay above about 18 C throughout the year. In medicine, “malattie tropicali” refers to diseases common in tropical regions, such as malaria and dengue. In agriculture and horticulture, “piante tropicali” and “frutti tropicali” denote plants and fruits originating from or adapted to tropical latitudes.