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"couple" in seven languages

Meaningcouple

Spanish

pareja

/paˈɾexa/

fem.other source · Vulgar Latin *PARICULA 'little pair', from PAR 'equal'

Also 'partner': mi pareja.

French

couple

/kupl/

masc.inherited

Italian

coppia

/ˈkɔppja/

fem.inherited

Portuguese

casal

/kaˈzaw/

masc.other source · Latin CASĀLE 'farmstead' (Portuguese casal 'homestead', then 'married pair')

Romanian

cuplu

/ˈkuplu/

neut.borrowed · French couple

Pereche, from *PARICULA, is a 'pair'.

Catalan

parella

/pəˈɾeʎə/

fem.other source · Vulgar Latin *PARICULA 'little pair', from PAR 'equal'

English

couple

/ˈkʌpəl/

from Latin/French · Old French cople

English → ItaliancouplecoppiaCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

CŌPULAM‘bond, link’

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

The story

French and Italian name a couple by its bond (CŌPULA, also grammar's 'copula'); Spanish by its likeness — a pareja is a 'little pair' of equals. Gender trap: un couple, but una coppia.

English relatives: couple, copulate; pair, par (es)

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In a sentence

  • esSon una pareja feliz.
  • frC'est un couple heureux.
  • itSono una coppia felice.
  • ptEles são um casal feliz.
  • roSunt un cuplu fericit.
  • caSón una parella feliç.
  • enThey are a happy couple.

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