"communist" in seven languages
Meaningcommunist
Spanish
comunista
/komuˈnista/
masc.learned
Same form for men and women: el/la comunista.
French
communiste
/kɔmynist/
masc.learned
Same form for both genders: un/une communiste.
Italian
comunista
/komuˈnista/
masc.learned
plural: comunisti / comuniste
Portuguese
comunista
/komuˈnistɐ/
masc.learned
Romanian
comunist
/komuˈnist/
masc.learned
Catalan
comunista
/kumuˈnistə/
masc.learned
English
communist
/ˈkɑmjənɪst/
from Latin/French · French communiste
English → ItaliancommunistcomunistaCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
COMMŪNEM‘common, shared’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
A 19th-century coinage on French commun + -iste that spread to every European language. Like other -ista nouns, Spanish and Italian comunista ends in -a for men too.
English relatives: common, community, communicate
Learn it
In a sentence
- esSu abuelo era comunista.
- frSon grand-père était communiste.
- itSuo nonno era comunista.
- ptO avô dele era comunista.
- roBunicul lui era comunist.
- caEl seu avi era comunista.
- enHis grandfather was a communist.