"(street) corner" in seven languages
Meaning(street) corner
Spanish
/esˈkina/
fem.other source · Gothic *skina 'shin, splint'
An inside corner of a room is un rincón.
French
/kwɛ̃/
masc.inherited
Italian
/ˈangolo/
masc.other source · Latin ANGULUM 'angle'
l'angolo
Portuguese
/esˈkinɐ/
fem.other source · Germanic *skina 'shin, splint'
Romanian
/kolts/
neut.other source · probably Slavic kolĭcĭ 'peg, stake'
plural: colțuri
Catalan
/kəntuˈnadə/
fem.other source · from cantó 'corner', of disputed origin
English
/ˈkɔɹnɚ/
other source · Anglo-Norman corner, from Latin CORNŪ 'horn'
Watch out: false friends
coin (English) means “piece of money” · coin (French) means “corner”
Both from Latin CUNEUM 'wedge'. French kept the wedge-shaped angle; English took Old French coin 'die for stamping money', and then the money itself.
The Latin ancestor
CUNEUM‘wedge’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
French coin is a wedge, and so is English coin — originally the stamping die. Italian uses geometry's angle; Spanish a Germanic word for a shin bone.
English relatives: coin (the die that stamped money was a wedge), cuneiform; angle
Learn it
In a sentence
- esLa panadería está en la esquina.
- frLa boulangerie est au coin de la rue.
- itIl panificio è all'angolo.
- ptA padaria fica na esquina.
- roBrutăria e la colț.
- caEl forn és a la cantonada.
- enThe bakery is on the corner.
More in Town & city
- pavement, sidewalkaceratrottoirmarciapiedecalçadatrotuarvorera
- traffic lightsemáforofeusemaforosemáforosemaforsemàfor
- addressdirecciónadresseindirizzoendereçoadresăadreça
- town hallayuntamientomairiemunicipioprefeituraprimărieajuntament
- bakerypanaderíaboulangeriepanetteriapadariabrutărieforn
- parkparqueparcparcoparqueparcparc