"beer" in seven languages
Meaningbeer
Spanish
cerveza
/θeɾˈbeθa/
fem.inherited
French
bière
/bjɛʁ/
fem.other source · Middle Dutch bier
The inherited cervoise survives for the hopless ale of the Gauls.
Italian
birra
/ˈbirra/
fem.other source · German Bier
Portuguese
cerveja
/seɾˈveʒɐ/
fem.inherited
Romanian
bere
/ˈbere/
fem.other source · of disputed origin (Latin BIBERE 'to drink' and German Bier have both been proposed)
plural: beri
Catalan
cervesa
/sərˈbɛzə/
fem.inherited
English
beer
/bɪɹ/
native English · Old English bēor
English → ItalianbeerbirraNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
CERVĒSIAM‘beer (a Gaulish word adopted by Latin)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spanish kept the Gaulish-Latin brew; French and Italian took the name of hopped beer from their Germanic neighbours.
Learn it
In a sentence
- esDos cervezas, por favor.
- frDeux bières, s'il vous plaît.
- itDue birre, per favore.
- ptDuas cervejas, por favor.
- roDouă beri, vă rog.
- caDues cerveses, si us plau.
- enTwo beers, please.