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"area, zone" in seven languages

Meaningarea, zone

Spanish

zona

/ˈθona/

fem.learned

Área exists too (el área, feminine), but it is more technical: surface area, penalty area.

French

zone

/zon/

fem.learned

For a part of town, French more often says quartier.

Italian

zona

/ˈdzɔna/

fem.learned

Portuguese

zona

/ˈzõnɐ/

fem.learned

Área is just as common in Brazil; colloquially zona also means 'a mess'.

Romanian

zonă

/ˈzonə/

fem.borrowed · French zone

Catalan

zona

/ˈzonə/

fem.learned

English

area

/ˈɛɹiə/

other source · Latin ĀREA 'open space, threshing floor'

'Zone' is the English cognate of the sisters' everyday word.

English → Italianarea, zonezonaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: zone, zonal.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

ZŌNAM‘belt, girdle; band of the sky (from Greek zṓnē)’

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

The story

The sisters picked the Greek 'belt' for a stretch of land; Latin ĀREA, English's word, survives as área / aire / area in more technical senses (an aire de repos is a French motorway rest area).

English relatives: zone, zonal

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esEsta zona es solo para peatones.
  • frCette zone est réservée aux piétons.
  • itQuesta zona è riservata ai pedoni.
  • ptEsta zona é só para pedestres.
  • roAceastă zonă este doar pentru pietoni.
  • caAquesta zona és només per a vianants.
  • enThis area is for pedestrians only.

More words from the same Latin

More in Town & city

All Town & city words