The English term "desiderata" matches the Italian term "difettare"

The Influence of Dante
It wasn’t until Dante Alighieri, one of Italy’s most well-known authors that the language was standardized. Until Alighieri wrote his book The Devine Comedy, most literature was written in Latin. He opted to write in the language of the common people. The dialect he chose was spoken in Tuscan and it became the standard for the Italian language and literature that is spoken today.
Italian Unity
There are many dialects of Italian and each one is considered its own independent language. This is because Italy was not unified in one country until 1861. At that point. Tuscan Italian became the official language. But just 2.5 percent of people could actually speak it. Today, around 30 percent of Italian dialects are considered endangered by UNESCO.
Italian and Music
Italian is the language of music with terms like crescendo, forte, and soprano. Musical notation came about during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Since many composers at the time were also Italian, it became the standard language of music.