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"chain" in seven languages

Meaningchain

Spanish

cadena

/kaˈdena/

fem.inherited

Also a TV channel and a chain of shops.

French

chaîne

/ʃɛn/

fem.inherited

Also a TV channel: changer de chaîne.

Italian

catena

/kaˈtena/

fem.inherited

Portuguese

corrente

/koˈhẽtʃi/

fem.other source · Latin CURRENTEM 'running'

Cadeia, the heir of CATĒNAM with the -n- lost, now means a chain of shops or events, or jail.

Romanian

lanț

/lants/

neut.other source · Slavic lanĭcĭ

Catalan

cadena

/kəˈdɛnə/

fem.inherited

English

chain

/tʃeɪn/

from Latin/French · Old French chaeine

English → ItalianchaincatenaCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

CATĒNAM‘chain’

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

The story

One Latin t, three fates: Spanish voiced it (cadena), French lost it (chaîne, with ca turned to cha), Italian kept it (catena). English chain came from French.

English relatives: concatenate, catenary

Sound laws at work

Voiceless stops between vowels softenFrench CA becomes cha

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esLleva una cadena de oro.
  • frElle porte une chaîne en or.
  • itPorta una catena d'oro.
  • ptEla usa uma corrente de ouro.
  • roPoartă un lanț de aur.
  • caPorta una cadena d'or.
  • enShe wears a gold chain.

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