People are often addressed by their professional titles in Italy and the titles
Avvocato – lawyer
Professore / professoressa – teacher
Dottore / Dottoressa - Doctor
Direttore / Direttrice - anyone who runs something
are frequently used.
So you can say,
“Buongiorno, avvocato” to a lawyer.
The head of a school should be addressed as “Preside”.
A bank manager should be addressed as “Direttore” or “Direttrice”.
Anyone with a university degree can be called “dottore” or “dottoressa” but these days, outside academic circles, these titles are usually reserved in speech for medical doctors.
