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Where does the word "autostrada," which means "highway," come from?

It comes from two words: auto (car) and strada (street), giving it a literal meaning of "a
street for cars." This is just one example of a compound noun in Italian, a word that is
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 combined from two other words.

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In Italian linguistics, this is called a "composto," compound, or a "parola composta,"

compound word.

Other examples include:

fermare + carte = fermacarte: paperweight

pasta + asciutta = pastasciutta: dried pasta

cassa + panca = cassapanca: dresser

Creating compound nouns is one of the primary ways, after adding suffixes, to increase
the amount of vocabulary in the language. The formation of new words is particularly
useful to the development of terminologie tecnico-scientifiche (scientific and technical
terminology).

Consider, for example, the numerous compound nouns with Greek elements in the
language of medicine:

elettrocardiogramma: electrocardiogram
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 cancerogeno: carcinogenic

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A compound need not be two (or more) forme libere, such as "asciuga(re)" and "mano"
in "asciugamano."

They can also be two (or more) forme non libere, such as antropo- (from the Greek
ánthrōpos, "man") and -fago (from the Greek phaghêin "to eat") in antropofago "he
who eats human flesh."

The Greek elements antropo- and -fago, unlike asciuga(re) and mano, do not exist as
stand-alone words but are found only in compound nouns.

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Aside from this difference, another should be noted: in compound nouns, such as
"asciugamano" there is the sequence: verb (asciugare) + noun (mano). Words such as
antropofago have an inverse sequence: noun (antropo: "man") + verb (-fago: "to eat").

In any event, there is a fundamental property common to these two compounds. The
implied, underlying phrase, of both has a verbal predicate:

(qualcosa) asciuga (la) mano = asciugamano: (something) dries (the) hand =

:
 hand towel

(qualcosa) mangia (l') uomo = antropofago: (something) eats (the) man =

cannibal

In other cases, however, the implied phrase of the compound has a nominal predicate.
In other words, it is a sentence containing the verb essere:

(il) filo (è) spinato = filo spinato: (the) wire (is) barbed = barbed wire

(la) cassa (è) forte = cassaforte: (the) box (is) strong = strongbox, safe

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Noun + Noun / Nome + Nome

capo + stazione = capostazione: stationmaster

capo + giro = capogiro: dizziness

cassa + panca = cassapanca: dresser

madre + perla = madreperla: mother-of-pearl

Noun + Adjective / Nome + Aggettivo

cassa + forte = cassaforte: strongbox, safe

Adjective + Noun / Aggettivo + Nome

franco + bollo = francobollo: stamp

mezza + luna = mezzaluna: half-moon

Adjective + Adjective / Aggettivo + Aggettivo

piano + forte = pianoforte: piano

sordo + muto = sordomuto: deaf-mute

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Verb + Verb / Verbo + Verbo

dormi + veglia = dormiveglia: stupor, lethargy

sali + scendi = saliscendi: latch

Verb + Noun / Verbo + Nome

apri + scatole = apriscatole: can opener

lava + piatti = lavapiatti: dishwasher

spazza + neve = spazzaneve: snowplow

Verb + Adverb / Verbo + Avverbio

posa + piano = posapiano: slowpoke

butta + fuori = buttafuori: bouncer

Adverb + Verb / Avverbo + Verbio

bene + stare = benestare: approval, blessing, consent

:
 male + essere = malessere: unease, discomfort

Adverb + Adjective / Avverbo + Aggettivo D4

sempre + verde = sempreverde: evergreen

Preposition or Adverb + Noun / Preposizione o Avverbio + Nome

sotto + passaggio = sottopassaggio: underpass

anti + pasto = antipasto: appetizer

sopra + nome = soprannome: nickname

dopo + scuola = doposcuola: after-school

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Among the compounds formed using the term capo (head), in the figurative sense, a
distinction must be made between:

those in which the term capo indicates "one who commands," the manager:

capo + scuola = caposcuola: dean

capo + stazione = capostazione: stationmaster

capo + classe = capoclasse: class president

and those in which the element capo indicates either "excellence" or "beginning of
something:"

capo + lavoro = capolavoro: masterpiece

capo + verso = capo verso: paragraph, indent

There are also other types of compounds, formed in more diverse ways:

capodanno = capo dell'anno (noun + preposition + noun): New Year, end of the
:
 year

pomodoro = pomo d'oro (noun + preposition + noun): tomato

buono-sconto = buono per ottenere uno sconto: discount ticket

fantascienza = scienza del fantastico: science fiction

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