"cat" in seven languages
Meaningcat
Spanish
gato
/ˈgato/
masc.inherited
French
chat
/ʃa/
masc.inherited
Italian
gatto
/ˈgatto/
masc.inherited
Portuguese
gato
/ˈgatu/
masc.inherited
Romanian
pisică
/piˈsikə/
fem.other source · Romanian pis, a call used for cats, + -ică
A tomcat is motan.
Catalan
gat
/gat/
masc.inherited
English
cat
/kæt/
from Latin/French · Late Latin cattus (Old English catt, via West Germanic)
English → ItaliancatgattoCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
CATTUM‘cat (Late Latin)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Classical Latin had FĒLĒS (feline); the domestic cat and its late word arrived together. Spanish and Italian voiced the initial c to g, French made it cha-.
English relatives: cat (the same Late Latin word, via Germanic)
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEl gato duerme todo el día.
- frLe chat dort toute la journée.
- itIl gatto dorme tutto il giorno.
- ptO gato dorme o dia todo.
- roPisica doarme toată ziua.
- caEl gat dorm tot el dia.
- enThe cat sleeps all day.