Progression

rialto (re-AL-to) noun

1. A theatre district.

2. An exchange or marketplace.

[After Rialto, an island of Venice which was the commercial center of the city. The Rialto bridge was the first bridge on the Grand Canal.]

A picture of the Rialto Bridge:
http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/rialto_bridge.htm

"It was this... that made it some forty or fifty years ago the rialto of the West Indian islands."
Daily Chronicle; Sep 23, 1901.

This week's theme: words derived from Italian landmarks.

   

Permalink:
http://wordsmith.org/words/rialto.html

Posted by Keya at July 21, 2005 09:34 PM