Meaning
cloth, canvas, web
- cloth, fabric, linen
- canvas (for painting); painting
- spider web, web
In a sentence
Ho comprato una tela bianca per dipingere.
I bought a blank canvas to paint on.
Hai visto la tela del ragno in giardino?
Did you see the spider web in the garden?
Il pittore ha steso i colori sulla tela.
The painter applied the colors to the canvas.
Word forms (2)
| Word | Word forms |
|---|---|
| tela | feminine · singular |
| tele | feminine · plural |
Usage notes
- For fabric in general, tessuto or stoffa is often more natural; tela usually suggests a specific woven cloth or artist’s material.
- For a spider’s web, tela is possible, but ragnatela is much more common in everyday Italian.
- In theatre, tela for “curtain” is literary or technical; sipario is the usual everyday word.