Latte

How to spell latte

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce latte

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does latte mean?

1. nounA drink made with espresso and a large amount of steamed milk.

Latte in a sentence

• She ordered a vanilla latte before the morning meeting.

• The cafe charges extra for an oat-milk latte.

Where does latte come from?

Language of origin: Italian

This word is a clipping of the Italian phrase caffè latte, which translates literally as 'coffee milk' or 'milk coffee'. The crucial element latte simply means 'milk', and it descends from the Latin lac, with the stem lact-, meaning 'milk', the very same root that gives English 'lactose' and 'lactate'. English speakers borrowed the shortened form in the twentieth century, with widespread use spreading rapidly through coffee-shop culture from the 1980s onward. The spelling keeps its Italian shape, so the trap for writers is the doubled 't' and the final 'e', neither of which an English ear would predict from the sound. Remembering the milk connection through 'lactose' can help anchor that distinctly Italian, non-English ending.

How the word is built

• latte (from Italian caffè latte: milk coffee, where latte means milk)