Skip to content

"bath" in seven languages

Meaningbath

Spanish

baño

/ˈbaɲo/

masc.inherited

Also the bathroom; a bath is often un baño or bañarse.

French

bain

/bɛ̃/

masc.inherited

The bathroom is la salle de bains.

Italian

bagno

/ˈbaɲɲo/

masc.inherited

Also the bathroom and a swim at the beach.

Portuguese

banho

/ˈbɐ̃ɲu/

masc.inherited

In Brazil tomar banho is usually a shower; a bath in a tub is banho de banheira.

Romanian

baie

/ˈbaje/

fem.inherited

Also 'bathroom': baia.

Catalan

bany

/baɲ/

masc.inherited

English

bath

/bæθ/

native English · Old English bæþ

English → ItalianbathbagnoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: balneary, bagnio.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

BALNEUM‘bath’

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

The story

Spoken Latin lost the l of BALNEUM; the leftover -NE- before a vowel then became a palatal ñ / gn in Spanish and Italian, while French turned the vowel nasal.

English relatives: balneary, bagnio

Sound laws at work

NN, GN and N + yodFrench vowel + nasal becomes a nasal vowel

Learn it

Practice the Home deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • esVoy a darme un baño caliente.
  • frJe vais prendre un bain chaud.
  • itVado a fare un bagno caldo.
  • ptVou tomar um banho de banheira bem quente.
  • roO să fac o baie fierbinte.
  • caEm faré un bany calent.
  • enI'm going to take a hot bath.

More in Home

All Home words