Graffiti
Graffiti is spelled thus, with two '-f-'s and one '-t-'. (It may help you to remember this if you notice that one of the commonest taboo words found in illicit graffiti begins with 'f-'.)
- Graffiti is the plural of an Italian noun, the substantive use of the past participle of the verb graffiare, 'to scratch'. (In Italian, this verb is often preceded by the pejorative prefix 's-' to make sgraffiare, with the past participle sgraffito/sgraffiti, which may be used in English as technical terms in Art.
The singular form is graffito. This is occasionally to be seen in English, largely by specialists in such subjects as art and archaeology, where it doesn't necessarily denote vandalistic decoration of public spaces: it can denote one of the techniques of designing by scratching away a surface layer to expose different colour below, as for example ceramic pots may have the glaze scratched away to reveal an underglaze, or even the body colour of the piece, or a watercolour painter may scratch away the paint from the white paper in a landscape to create an effect of sunlight shining on water.
- It may appear affected to use graffito, sgraffiato or sgraffiti in English outside the specialized subjects mentioned above.
