"bald" in seven languages
Meaningbald
Spanish
calvo
/ˈkalbo/
inherited
French
chauve
/ʃov/
inherited
Italian
calvo
/ˈkalvo/
inherited
Also pelato, 'peeled'.
Portuguese
careca
/kaˈɾɛkɐ/
other source · of uncertain origin
Calvo is the formal word.
Romanian
chel
/kel/
other source · of debated origin
Catalan
calb
/kalp/
inherited
English
bald
/bɔld/
native English · Middle English balled
English → ItalianbaldcalvoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: Calvary.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
CALVUM‘bald’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
French chauve shows two habits at once: CA → cha and l → u, the same pair as chaud from CALIDUM. Calvary is the 'place of the skull' (CALVĀRIA), from the same root.
English relatives: Calvary
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esMi abuelo es calvo.
- frMon grand-père est chauve.
- itMio nonno è calvo.
- ptMeu avô é careca.
- roBunicul meu e chel.
- caEl meu avi és calb.
- enMy grandfather is bald.