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B2🔤 Letters I & L

Italian word

istanza

formal request, petition; instance (legal/formal)

Looks like

instance

an example or occurrence of something

⚠️ The trap

'Istanza' in everyday Italian means a formal legal/bureaucratic request, not an example. 'For instance' = 'per esempio', not 'per istanza'. 'In the first instance' (legal) = 'in prima istanza' — that overlap is the only case where they match.

To say "an example or occurrence of something" in Italian:

istanza (formal request); esempio (for example/instance)

"istanza" in English means:

formal request, petition; instance (legal/formal)

Example

"Ha presentato un'istanza al tribunale."

"He submitted a formal request to the court."

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