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"bed" in seven languages

Meaningbed

Spanish

cama

/ˈkama/

fem.other source · Late Latin CAMA 'low bed' (attested in Isidore), probably pre-Roman

LECTUM survives as lecho, a literary bed or a riverbed.

French

lit

/li/

masc.inherited

Italian

letto

/ˈlɛtto/

masc.inherited

Portuguese

cama

/ˈkɐ̃mɐ/

fem.other source · Late Latin CAMA 'low bed', probably pre-Roman

Romanian

pat

/pat/

neut.other source · Modern Greek pátos 'floor, layer'

Catalan

llit

/ʎit/

masc.inherited

English

bed

/bɛd/

native English · Old English bedd

English → ItalianbedlettoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: litter (via Old French litiere).What English and Italian share

Watch out: false friends

  • cama (Catalan) means “leg” · cama (Spanish) means “bed”

    Coincidence. Catalan cama is Late Latin CAMBA 'hock, leg' (the source of Italian gamba and French jambe); Spanish and Portuguese cama 'bed' is a Late Latin word of Hispanic, probably pre-Roman, origin.

All false friends

The Latin ancestor

LECTUM‘bed, couch’

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

The story

French and Italian show the CT law (lit, letto); Spanish went with a regional word of Hispania that Isidore of Seville recorded in the 7th century.

English relatives: litter (via Old French litiere)

Sound laws at work

CT

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esMe voy a la cama a las once.
  • frJe vais au lit à onze heures.
  • itVado a letto alle undici.
  • ptVou para a cama às onze.
  • roMă bag în pat la unsprezece.
  • caMe'n vaig al llit a les onze.
  • enI go to bed at eleven.

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