"bull" in seven languages
Meaningbull
Spanish
toro
/ˈtoɾo/
masc.inherited
French
taureau
/tɔʁo/
masc.inherited
plural: taureaux
From a diminutive *TAURELLUM.
Italian
toro
/ˈtɔro/
masc.inherited
Portuguese
touro
/ˈtowɾu/
masc.inherited
Portuguese keeps AU as ou, where Spanish and Italian have o.
Romanian
taur
/ˈtaur/
masc.inherited
Catalan
toro
/ˈtɔɾu/
masc.borrowed · Spanish toro
Native brau is the fighting bull; bou is an ox.
English
bull
/bʊl/
native English · Old English bula
English → ItalianbulltoroNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: Taurus.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
TAURUM‘bull’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Latin AU closed to o in Spanish and Italian (toro); French, via a diminutive, has it written au but pronounced [o] all the same.
English relatives: Taurus
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEl toro está en el prado.
- frLe taureau est dans le pré.
- itIl toro è nel prato.
- ptO touro está no pasto.
- roTaurul e pe câmp.
- caEl toro és al prat.
- enThe bull is in the field.