"ambulance" in seven languages
Meaningambulance
Spanish
ambulancia
/ambuˈlanθja/
fem.borrowed · French ambulance
French
ambulance
/ɑ̃bylɑ̃s/
fem.learned
Italian
ambulanza
/ambuˈlantsa/
fem.borrowed · French ambulance
Portuguese
ambulância
/ɐ̃buˈlɐ̃sjɐ/
fem.borrowed · French ambulance
Romanian
ambulanță
/ambuˈlantsə/
fem.borrowed · French ambulance
Catalan
ambulància
/əmbuˈlansiə/
fem.borrowed · French ambulance
English
ambulance
/ˈæmbjələns/
from Latin/French · French ambulance
English → ItalianambulanceambulanzaCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
AMBULĀRE‘to walk’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
French field hospitals that moved with the army were hôpitaux ambulants, 'walking hospitals'. Shortened to ambulance, the word marched into every European language.
English relatives: amble, ambulatory, perambulator
Learn it
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