The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word ETRUSCAN
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
E
T
R
U
S
C
A
N
More clues leading to the result ETRUSCAN
- Right nutcase misdirected Italian
- Old Italian cars, ten taking a spin around Umbria, primarily
- In ancient culture, centaurs made merry
- Electronic survey about POTUS: “No politician; civilization no longer”
- Forerunner of 9 puzzled centaurs
- Centaurs translated old language
- Eastern Italian circling river? Ancient one
- Old Italian sure can’t change
- Old Italian taking lively canter across America
- Old Italian person sure can’t put out
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Old Italian" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case old italian = etruscan.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.