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"bark (of a tree)" in seven languages

Meaningbark (of a tree)

Spanish

corteza

/korˈteθa/

fem.inherited

From the adjective *CORTICEA 'of bark'. Also the crust of bread or the Earth's crust.

French

écorce

/ekɔʁs/

fem.other source · Latin SCORTEA 'leather cloak' (from SCORTUM 'hide'), influenced by CORTEX

Italian

corteccia

/korˈtettʃa/

fem.inherited

From *CORTICEA, like Spanish corteza.

Portuguese

casca

/ˈkaskɐ/

fem.other source · cascar 'to crack' (spoken Latin *QUASSICĀRE)

Also the peel of fruit and the shell of an egg; cortiça is cork.

Romanian

scoarță

/ˈsko̯artsə/

fem.other source · Latin SCORTEA 'of hide'

Catalan

escorça

/əsˈkɔɾsə/

fem.other source · Latin SCORTEA 'of hide', influenced by CORTEX

English

bark

/bɑɹk/

other source · Old Norse bǫrkr

English → Italianbark (of a tree)cortecciaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: cortex, cortical.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

CORTICEM‘bark (and its adjective *CORTICEA)’

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

The story

Spanish corteza and Italian corteccia go back to Latin CORTEX. French, Romanian and Catalan chose SCORTEA, a cloak of hide: bark is the tree's leather. English cortex, the brain's outer layer, is literally its bark.

English relatives: cortex, cortical

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In a sentence

  • esLa corteza del roble es muy rugosa.
  • frL'écorce du chêne est très rugueuse.
  • itLa corteccia della quercia è molto ruvida.
  • ptA casca do carvalho é muito áspera.
  • roScoarța stejarului e foarte aspră.
  • caL'escorça del roure és molt aspra.
  • enThe bark of the oak is very rough.

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