Skip to content

"OK, agreed" in seven languages

MeaningOK, agreed

Spanish

de acuerdo

/de aˈkweɾdo/

inherited

French

d'accord

/dakɔʁ/

inherited

The everyday French 'OK'.

Italian

d'accordo

/dakˈkɔrdo/

inherited

Portuguese

combinado

/kõbiˈnadu/

other source · Latin COMBĪNĀRE 'to join two by two'

De acordo exists but sounds formal; combinado 'arranged' seals a plan.

Romanian

de acord

/de aˈkord/

borrowed · French d'accord

Catalan

d'acord

/dəˈkɔɾ/

inherited

English

OK

/oʊˈkeɪ/

other source · American English (1839, jokey 'oll korrect')

English → ItalianOK, agreedd'accordoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: accord, concord, cordial.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

*ACCORDĀRE‘to bring heart to heart (AD + COR, CORDIS)’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

To agree is to be heart to heart: Vulgar Latin *ACCORDĀRE, from COR 'heart'. Under stress Spanish broke the o into ue (acuerdo), as it does in many open-o words.

English relatives: accord, concord, cordial

Sound laws at work

Stressed short O breaks into ue / uo / eu

Learn it

Practice the Greetings & courtesy deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • es—¿Quedamos a las ocho? —¡De acuerdo!
  • fr— On se voit à huit heures ? — D'accord !
  • it— Ci vediamo alle otto? — D'accordo!
  • pt— A gente se vê às oito? — Combinado!
  • ro— Ne vedem la opt? — De acord!
  • ca— Quedem a les vuit? — D'acord!
  • en— Shall we meet at eight? — OK!

More in Greetings & courtesy

All Greetings & courtesy words