In Italian, “cortina” means primarily “curtain” (as in a hanging or drape), and by extension it can also mean a screen , cloud , or smokescreen in figurative or technical uses.

Main meanings of “cortina”

  • A cloth curtain or hanging that separates spaces in a room.
  • A figurative “screen” or “curtain” that hides or obscures something, like cortina di nebbia (“curtain of fog”).
  • In military language, a cortina fumogena is a “smokescreen.”
  • In architecture, it can indicate a stretch of wall between two bastions in old fortifications.

There is also Cortina d’Ampezzo , often shortened to Cortina , the famous Italian mountain town and ski resort; in that case it is a proper name, not just the common noun “curtain.”

So, if you see cortina in a sentence, it usually means a literal or figurative curtain , unless it’s clearly referring to the place Cortina d’Ampezzo.

TL;DR: Cortina = “curtain” in Italian, with extended meanings like screen, cloud, or smokescreen, and it’s also the name of a well‑known Alpine town.

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