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"column (pillar)" in seven languages

Meaningcolumn (pillar)

Spanish

columna

/koˈlumna/

fem.learned

French

colonne

/kɔlɔn/

fem.learned

Remade on Latin with Italian influence; Old French had colombe.

Italian

colonna

/koˈlonna/

fem.inherited

Portuguese

coluna

/koˈlunɐ/

fem.learned

Romanian

coloană

/koˈlo̯anə/

fem.borrowed · Italian colonna

Catalan

columna

/kuˈlumnə/

fem.learned

English

column

/ˈkɑləm/

from Latin/French · Old French colombe, later remade on Latin COLUMNA

English → Italiancolumn (pillar)colonnaCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

COLUMNAM‘pillar’

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

The story

Italian assimilated MN to nn (colonna, as SOMNUM gave sonno). Spanish keeps the Latin mn, and English still writes the n it no longer pronounces.

English relatives: columnist, colonnade

Sound laws at work

Italian assimilates clusters

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In a sentence

  • esEl templo tiene seis columnas.
  • frLe temple a six colonnes.
  • itIl tempio ha sei colonne.
  • ptO templo tem seis colunas.
  • roTemplul are șase coloane.
  • caEl temple té sis columnes.
  • enThe temple has six columns.

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