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Italian words

Plain English first, Italian on the form second. These are the words you will meet on Antenati, on a comune request, and on a consulate checklist, with the meaning a researcher needs before the fine print.

Atto / atti

English: civil record, act, register entry.

An official civil register entry — birth, marriage, or death — kept by the comune. Not a parish baptism book. When someone asks for “the birth act,” they usually mean the civil atto di nascita, not a church certificate.

Atto the product: the desktop kit on this site is called Atto — see youratto.com. The Italian noun atto (plural atti) is a civil register entry. Same spelling, unrelated meanings.

Comune

English: municipality, town hall.

The local government that holds modern civil registers for its territory. For filing-grade copies you often write to the comune where the event was registered, not to a regional archive website.

Frazione

English: hamlet, outlying district.

A smaller place name inside a comune. Your ancestor may say they were “from” a frazione, but civil records are filed under the parent comune. Search and requests usually need the comune name, not only the hamlet.

Copia integrale

English: full certified copy of the act.

The complete text of the civil register entry, issued by the comune (or competent office) for official use. This is filing-grade paperwork. A research scan on Antenati is not a copia integrale. See Italy records and Italian document types.

Estratto

English: extract, abstract.

A shorter summary of facts from a register. Some offices issue an estratto per riassunto. Many consulate checklists ask for a full copia integrale, and the form they want changes by venue and year. Atto keeps the copy you hold next to the form the checklist names. The side-by-side request list is on the Comune PEC directory.

Nati / Matrimoni / Morti

English: births / marriages / deaths.

Record types on Antenati’s search-registry. Start with Nati when you have a birth year. Switch to Matrimoni or Morti when chasing a marriage or death instead. See Italy records.

Località

English: place, locality.

The place field on Antenati search forms. Enter the comune name when you know it. If results are empty, try spelling variants or a nearby year — civil registration moved town to town over time.

Tipologia

English: record type.

The filter on Antenati for Nati, Matrimoni, or Morti. Atto’s find plan pre-fills this when it can infer the event you are looking for.

Apostille

English: apostille (same word).

An international authentication stamp on vital records from countries in the Hague Apostille Convention — including US birth and marriage certificates before they are used in Italy. You obtain it from the issuing US state, or from the other competent authority for that record.

Prenot@Mi

English: consular appointment booking system.

The online scheduling desk many Italian consulates use. You sign in there yourself and choose the appointment. Atto stays on your computer and keeps the document checklist for the day you attend.

Codice fiscale

English: Italian tax ID number.

A personal identifier used on Italian forms and some comune requests. It is sensitive — treat it like an SSN in how you store and share it. Do not post it in Discord or support tickets; email only when support asks for a secure next step.

Asseverata / traduzione asseverata

English: sworn translation (Italy).

A translation certified before an Italian court (CTU) or another competent authority in Italy — common on comune and judicial tracks. A consulate sometimes wants a different format (traduzione certificata). Atto’s checklist holds whichever translation you received, next to the act it belongs to.

Where to use these words

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