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"capital (city)" in seven languages

Meaningcapital (city)

Spanish

capital

/kapiˈtal/

fem.learned

La capital is the city; el capital is money invested.

French

capitale

/kapital/

fem.learned

Le capital is money.

Italian

capitale

/kapiˈtale/

fem.learned

Il capitale is money.

Portuguese

capital

/kapiˈtaw/

fem.learned

Romanian

capitală

/kapiˈtalə/

fem.borrowed · French capitale

Catalan

capital

/kəpiˈtal/

fem.learned

English

capital

/ˈkæpɪtəl/

from Latin/French · Old French capital, from Latin CAPITĀLEM

English → Italiancapital (city)capitaleCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

CAPITĀLEM‘of the head, chief (CAPUT 'head')’

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

The story

The capital is the 'head' city. In all three sisters, the gender tells you which capital you mean: feminine for the city, masculine for money.

English relatives: capital, captain, cap, chief

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esRoma es la capital de Italia.
  • frRome est la capitale de l'Italie.
  • itRoma è la capitale d'Italia.
  • ptRoma é a capital da Itália.
  • roRoma este capitala Italiei.
  • caRoma és la capital d'Itàlia.
  • enRome is the capital of Italy.

The Latin family

CAPUT, CAPIT-· head

Classical CAPUT survived in Spanish, French and Italian only as the 'head' of things — cabo 'end, cape', chef 'chief', capo 'boss' — while the body part itself got new words (Spanish and Portuguese cabeza, cabeça from *CAPITIA; French tête and Italian testa from TESTA 'pot'). Romanian and Catalan never let go: cap is still the head on your shoulders. CAPITĀLE 'main property' gave the most surprising doublet: popular caudal and cheptel, English cattle and chattel, beside learned capital.

  • CAPUThead

    escabofrchefitcapoptcaborocapcacapenchief

  • *CAPITIAhead (spoken Latin)

    escabezaptcabeça

  • CAPITĀLEchief property, stock

    escaudalfrcheptelptcabedalcacabalencattle

  • CAPITĀLEMof the head, principal (learned)

    escapitalfrcapitalitcapitaleptcapitalrocapitalcacapitalencapital

  • CAPITULUMlittle head; heading, chapter

    escapítulofrchapitreitcapitoloptcapítulorocapitolcacapítolenchapter

Explore all Latin families

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