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"cross" in seven languages

Meaningcross

Spanish

cruz

/kɾuθ/

fem.inherited

plural: cruces

French

croix

/kʁwa/

fem.inherited

Italian

croce

/ˈkrotʃe/

fem.inherited

Portuguese

cruz

/kɾus/

fem.inherited

Romanian

cruce

/ˈkrutʃe/

fem.inherited

Catalan

creu

/kɾɛw/

fem.inherited

English

cross

/kɹɔs/

from Latin/French · Old Norse kross, from Old Irish cros, from Latin CRUCEM

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

The Latin ancestor

CRUCEM (nom. CRUX)‘cross, gallows’

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

The story

The C before E shows the three-way split: Spanish θ (z), French s (now silent at the end), Italian tʃ. English got cross by a roundabout route through Irish and Norse.

English relatives: crucial, crucify, crusade

Sound laws at work

C before E and IFinal vowels

Learn it

Practice the Ideas deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • esMarca la respuesta correcta con una cruz.
  • frCochez la bonne réponse d'une croix.
  • itSegna la risposta giusta con una croce.
  • ptMarque a resposta certa com uma cruz.
  • roMarcați răspunsul corect cu o cruce.
  • caMarca la resposta correcta amb una creu.
  • enMark the right answer with a cross.

More in Ideas

All Ideas words