The word "cardillo" is often misspelled as "cardillo", as people tend to confuse the letter "i" with "l". The correct spelling of the word is "cardillo" and it is pronounced as /kɑrˈdiːjoʊ/. The "r" is trilled which might be hard for non-native speakers, but the rest of the pronunciation is straightforward. The word refers to a type of thistle plant, often found in the Mediterranean region, and is also used as a surname in some cultures.
The word cardillo comes from the Italian language. It is derived from the Latin word carduus, meaning thistle. In Italian, cardo refers to a thistle plant, and cardillo is a diminutive form of that, meaning little thistle.