"church" in seven languages
Meaningchurch
Spanish
/iˈglesja/
fem.inherited
Its shape is partly learned: the gl was never palatalised.
French
/egliz/
fem.inherited
Italian
/ˈkjɛza/
fem.inherited
Portuguese
/iˈgɾeʒɐ/
fem.inherited
Romanian
/biˈserikə/
fem.other source · Latin BASILICAM 'hall, basilica'
Eastern Latin named the church after the building, not the assembly.
Catalan
/əzˈglezjə/
fem.learned
A semi-learned form: it keeps Latin's -sia ending.
English
/tʃɝtʃ/
other source · Old English cirice, from Greek kȳriakón '(house) of the Lord'
The Latin ancestor
ECCLĒSIAM‘assembly, church (from Greek ekklēsía)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Italian dropped the first syllable and turned cl into chi (chiesa); Spanish and French kept the cluster. English church comes from a different Greek word, kyriakón 'the Lord's (house)'.
English relatives: ecclesiastical
Sound laws at work
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In a sentence
- esLa iglesia está al lado de la plaza.
- frL'église est à côté de la place.
- itLa chiesa è accanto alla piazza.
- ptA igreja fica ao lado da praça.
- roBiserica este lângă piață.
- caL'església és al costat de la plaça.
- enThe church is next to the square.