veltro

From Old French veltre.

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɛl.tro/, [ˈvɛl̺t̪r̺o]
• Stress: vèltro
• Hyphenation: vel‧tro

veltro m (plural veltri, feminine veltra) (literary)

1. greyhound (male)
   • 1321, Dante Alighieri, La divina commedia: Inferno [The Divine Comedy: Hell] (paperback), 12th edition, Le Monnier, published 1994, Canto XIII, lines 124–126, page 202:

     Di rietro a loro era la selva piena ¶ di nere cagne, bramose e correnti ¶ come veltri ch'uscisser di catena.

     Behind them was the forest full of black ¶ she-mastiffs, ravenous, and swift of foot ¶ as greyhounds, who are issuing from the chain.

   • 1887, Giosuè Carducci, “La leggenda di Teodorico [The Legend of Theodoric]”, in Rime nuove [New Rhymes]‎, collected in Poesie, Nicola Zanichelli, published 1906, Book 6, lines 45–46, page 696:

     Ma i suoi veltri ebber timore ¶ E si misero a guair

     But his greyhounds got scared, and started whining

• cane