dictionary failure

[Anniet2]

I should like to know the difference in meaning between the following words, as my dictionary does not give them:

alluvione and inondazione and

cascina and casale

I think casale is 'farmhouse' whereas 'cascina is 'farm' but I am not sure.
Thank you!
Annie.

[anne2]

alluvione = flood
inondazione = flood, flooding

cascina = farmstead
casale = hamlet, farmhouse

[Charles Phillips]

Yes, both alluvione and inondazione mean flood, another verb frequently seen which also means to flood is allagare. Thinking about the context where you might make a choice to use one word in favour of another, I'd say if your cellar got flooded by a burst pipe it would certainly be an inondazione: whereas if a river has burst its banks it would be an alluvione in the fields and streets, but would become an inondazione when the water got into your house! Roads tend to get allagato (at least according to the warning road signs - "Attenzione. Pericolo d'allagamento!)

Precisely a cascina is a dairy, or a dairy farm, although (depending on region) it is often nowadays used for any farmhouse. (Casein, a component of milk,comes from the same linguistic root). A casale (to me, in central Italy) simply means a reasonably sized house in the countryside. You'll find other words for farms/farmhouses in different regions, many of which have altered meaning over the centuries - for example masseria, podere, tenuta, fattoria.

[Annamaria]

If a river breaks its banks, even after the rain has stopped, then it's an "innondazione". "Un alluvione" is driving rain which might or might not cause flooding. In fact, you can have an "innondazione" following an "alluvione"!
A "casale" is always a large building which was a farm. A "cascina" (generally in the north) is altogether smaller and usually is still a dairy small-holding. There, that's my Roman mum's explanation.

[anne2]

Funnily enough, part of young son's homework today concerns 'La Cascina'.
The definition given by his textbook -
'La cascina è un insieme di costruzioni al centro di numerose attività agricole e si può trovare sia in pianura che in collina.'

It goes on to list the possible features/buildings etc etc -
pagliaio, aia a cortile, silos, orto, stagno, cereali, fienile, pascolo, ovile, coltivazioni, arnie, pollaio, trattore, stalla, frutteto
so any sort of farm really!