το ακτινίδιο
“το ακτινίδιο” (to aktinídio) — kiwi in Greek. Noun, level A1, topic — food and drink. from aktína, a ray: the sliced fruit looks like a sun with rays. The bird is also kiwi, with its article: to kívi. In a live sentence: “Το ακτινίδιο έχει πολλή βιταμίνη” — Kiwi has a lot of vitamins. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters τ, ο, α, κ, τ, ι, ν, δ, ι, ο.
In short
| Written in Greek | το ακτινίδιο |
| Read in Latin letters | to aktinídio |
| Translation | kiwi |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- το ακτινίδιοto aktinídiokiwi
Why it looks that way
from aktína, a ray: the sliced fruit looks like a sun with rays. The bird is also kiwi, with its article: to kívi
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Το ακτινίδιο έχει πολλή βιταμίνηto aktinídio ékhi polí vitamíniKiwi has a lot of vitamins
Nearby words: food and drink
A menu, a market, a shop sign, the question “what is this?”. Food is the most frequent subject of the first weeks and the safest excuse to start talking.
- καφέςkaféscoffeemasculine: o kafés. Greek coffee is ordered by sweetness: skétos — plain, métrios — medium, glikós — sweet
- τσάιtsáiteathe ts is one sound, like the ts in cats. Neuter: to tsái. Mountain tea — tsái tu vunoú — is drunk in Greece even more than the regular kind
- νερόnerówaterneuter: to neró. The ancient hýdor survives only in prefixes like 'hydro-', and this word took over everyday speech
- ψωμίpsomíbreadthe letter ψ says ps in one stroke, as at the end of lips. Neuter: to psomí
- τυρίtirícheesethe υ here is the ee sound: tee-RÍ. Féta is not a variety but a protected name: only Greek cheese may be called that
- κρέαςkréasmeatneuter despite the -as ending: to kréas. There are few words like this, but they are all frequent
- ψάριpsárifishfrom the ancient ópson — 'what goes with bread': fish played that role so often it took over the word
- φρούταfrútafruitou gives oo. Neuter plural: éna frúto becomes frúta. The word is Italian; the native Greek rival is karpóí
- μήλοmíloapplethe η reads ee: MEE-lo. Don't confuse with miló — I speak — where the i carries the stress at the end
- ντομάταdomátatomatont at the start of a word is a plain d: do-MA-ta. It is written as two letters because Greek has no single letter for d
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “food and drink”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “kiwi” in Greek?
from aktína, a ray: the sliced fruit looks like a sun with rays. The bird is also kiwi, with its article: to kívi
- How do you say “fish” in Greek?
from the ancient ópson — 'what goes with bread': fish played that role so often it took over the word
- How do you say “water” in Greek?
neuter: to neró. The ancient hýdor survives only in prefixes like 'hydro-', and this word took over everyday speech
- How do you say “tomato” in Greek?
nt at the start of a word is a plain d: do-MA-ta. It is written as two letters because Greek has no single letter for d
- How do you say “meat” in Greek?
neuter despite the -as ending: to kréas. There are few words like this, but they are all frequent
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “kiwi” in Greek?
«το ακτινίδιο», read “to aktinídio”. In a live sentence: “Το ακτινίδιο έχει πολλή βιταμίνη” — Kiwi has a lot of vitamins. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “food and drink”; written with the characters τ, ο, α, κ, τ, ι, ν, δ, ι, ο.
How is “το ακτινίδιο” written in Latin letters?
to aktinídio. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
from aktína, a ray: the sliced fruit looks like a sun with rays. The bird is also kiwi, with its article: to kívi. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.