Wordalso written vaporetti, venice water bus, venice waterbus
vaporetto
Meaning
A vaporetto is a public motorboat that works like a city bus on the canals of Venice, Italy.
How “vaporetto” is used
A scheduled water bus (canal motorboat) used for public passenger transport in Venice and its lagoon.123
- Tone
- Neutral; common in travel writing and guidebooks.
- Where you’ll see it
- What does vaporetto mean for travelers? It is the everyday way to ride the Grand Canal and reach islands such as Lido, Murano, or Burano—Venice’s floating equivalent of a city bus, operated by ACTV.
Examples
- We took the vaporetto down the Grand Canal instead of a gondola.
- If you are wondering about vaporetto meaning on a map, look for the numbered water-bus stops.
- Line 1 is the slow tourist vaporetto that stops all along the canal.
Examples are written for this site to show typical use. They are not quotes.
Usage notes
- Vaporetto meaning in English almost always points to Venice’s public water bus, not a private water taxi or gondola.
- Plural forms are vaporetti (Italian) or vaporettos (English).
- Strictly speaking, some writers reserve vaporetti for the larger boats on routes such as lines 1 and 2; locals may also say batèlo or vaporino.
Origin
Borrowed from Italian vaporetto, a diminutive of vapore (“steamboat”), itself from French bateau à vapeur—literally a “little steamer,” the name for Venice’s early steam-powered water buses.12
Sources
- vaporetto — Merriam-Webster (opens in a new tab)
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vaporetto
- Definition of vaporetto — Collins English Dictionary (opens in a new tab)
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/vaporetto
- Vaporetto — Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporetto