"act (deed; part of a play)" in seven languages
Meaningact (deed; part of a play)
Spanish
acto
/ˈakto/
masc.learned
French
acte
/akt/
masc.learned
Italian
atto
/ˈatto/
masc.learned
Portuguese
ato
/ˈatu/
masc.learned
European Portuguese spells it acto.
Romanian
act
/akt/
neut.learned
Learned: inherited -CT- would be -pt-, as in fapt 'fact'. Also 'official document'.
Catalan
acte
/ˈaktə/
masc.learned
English
act
/ækt/
from Latin/French · Latin ACTUM, partly via French acte
English → Italianact (deed; part of a play)attoCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
ACTUM‘a thing done (from AGERE 'to do, drive')’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
A learned word everywhere, yet Italian still assimilates ct to tt, as it does in every word (atto, like fatto). Spanish and French keep the Latin cluster.
English relatives: action, actor, active, exact
Sound laws at work
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In a sentence
- esEl segundo acto es el mejor.
- frLe deuxième acte est le meilleur.
- itIl secondo atto è il migliore.
- ptO segundo ato é o melhor.
- roActul al doilea e cel mai bun.
- caEl segon acte és el millor.
- enThe second act is the best.