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"cold (illness)" in seven languages

Meaningcold (illness)

Spanish

resfriado

/resfɾiˈado/

masc.inherited

Also constipado — a false friend: it means 'with a cold', not constipated.

French

rhume

/ʁym/

masc.other source · Latin RHEUMA 'flow, catarrh', from Greek

Italian

raffreddore

/raffredˈdore/

masc.inherited

Portuguese

resfriado

/hesfɾiˈadu/

masc.inherited

In Portugal it is constipação — which does not mean constipation.

Romanian

răceală

/rəˈtʃe̯alə/

fem.other source · Romanian răci 'to cool', from rece (Latin RECENTEM 'fresh')

Catalan

refredat

/rəfɾəˈdat/

masc.inherited

English

cold

/koʊld/

native English · Old English cald

English → Italiancold (illness)raffreddoreNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: frigid; rheumatism (fr).What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

FRĪGIDUM‘cold’

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

The story

Spanish and Italian say you have been 'chilled' (frío, freddo, from FRĪGIDUS). French rhume is Greek rheûma 'a flow' — the runny nose — also behind English rheumatism.

English relatives: frigid; rheumatism (fr)

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In a sentence

  • esTengo un resfriado.
  • frJ'ai un rhume.
  • itHo il raffreddore.
  • ptEstou resfriado.
  • roAm o răceală.
  • caTinc un refredat.
  • enI've got a cold.

The Latin family

FRĪG-· cold

FRĪGIDUM was squeezed in speech to *FRIGDU, and French and Italian point to a short i (probably under the influence of RIGIDUS 'stiff'), giving froid and freddo; Spanish lost the -g- and the -d- to give frío. Centuries later the full Latin word came back as frígido, frigide, frigido, frigid — 'sexually cold' or 'frozen' in register. Portuguese frio and Catalan fred are inherited too (Catalan, like French and Italian, points to the short i); Romanian says rece, from RECENTEM 'fresh'.

  • FRĪGIDUMcold

    esfríofrfroiditfreddoptfriocafred

  • FRĪGIDUMcold (learned)

    esfrígidofrfrigideitfrigidoptfrígidorofrigidcafrígidenfrigid

  • REFRĪGERĀREto make cool again

    esrefrigerarfrréfrigéreritrefrigerareptrefrigerarrorefrigeracarefrigerarenrefrigerate

  • FRĪGIDUM (via resfriar)a cold

    esresfriadoptresfriado

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