"bishop" in seven languages
Meaningbishop
Spanish
obispo
/oˈbispo/
masc.inherited
French
évêque
/evɛk/
masc.inherited
Italian
vescovo
/ˈveskovo/
masc.inherited
Portuguese
bispo
/ˈbispu/
masc.inherited
The unstressed first syllable wore away: EPISCOPUM → bispo.
Romanian
episcop
/eˈpiskop/
masc.borrowed · Old Church Slavonic episkopŭ (from Greek)
Catalan
bisbe
/ˈbizbə/
masc.inherited
English
bishop
/ˈbɪʃəp/
from Latin/French · Old English biscop, from Latin EPISCOPUS
English → ItalianbishopvescovoCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
EPISCOPUM‘overseer (Greek epískopos)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
All four descend from one Greek word, 'overseer', worn down differently: English and Italian lost the first e, Spanish softened p to b, French dropped the s and marked it with a circumflex.
English relatives: episcopal
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEl obispo visitó el pueblo.
- frL'évêque a visité le village.
- itIl vescovo ha visitato il paese.
- ptO bispo visitou a cidadezinha.
- roEpiscopul a vizitat satul.
- caEl bisbe va visitar el poble.
- enThe bishop visited the village.
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