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"cycle" in seven languages

Meaningcycle

Spanish

ciclo

/ˈθiklo/

masc.learned

French

cycle

/sikl/

masc.learned

Italian

ciclo

/ˈtʃiklo/

masc.learned

Portuguese

ciclo

/ˈsiklu/

masc.learned

Romanian

ciclu

/ˈtʃiklu/

neut.learned

Catalan

cicle

/ˈsiklə/

masc.learned

English

cycle

/ˈsaɪkəl/

from Latin/French · Late Latin CYCLUS (Greek kýklos)

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

The Latin ancestor

CYCLUM (Greek kýklos)‘circle, wheel’

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

The story

A Greek word in Latin dress: the soft c gives θ, s and tʃ even in learned words. Greek kýklos and English wheel go back to the same Indo-European root.

English relatives: bicycle, encyclopedia, cyclone, recycle

Sound laws at work

C before E and I

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In a sentence

  • esEl ciclo del agua nunca se detiene.
  • frLe cycle de l'eau ne s'arrête jamais.
  • itIl ciclo dell'acqua non si ferma mai.
  • ptO ciclo da água nunca para.
  • roCiclul apei nu se oprește niciodată.
  • caEl cicle de l'aigua no s'atura mai.
  • enThe water cycle never stops.

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