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"defeat" in seven languages

Meaningdefeat

Spanish

derrota

/deˈrota/

fem.other source · Spanish derrotar 'to rout' (from Old French; ultimately Latin RUPTA 'broken')

French

défaite

/defɛt/

fem.inherited

Italian

sconfitta

/skonˈfitta/

fem.other source · Italian sconfiggere 'to defeat' (formation debated)

Portuguese

derrota

/deˈhɔtɐ/

fem.other source · Portuguese derrotar 'to rout' (from Old French; ultimately Latin RUPTA 'broken')

Romanian

înfrângere

/ɨnˈfrɨndʒere/

fem.other source · Romanian înfrânge 'to defeat', from Latin INFRINGERE 'to break'

Catalan

derrota

/dəˈrɔtə/

fem.other source · Catalan derrotar 'to rout' (from Old French; ultimately Latin RUPTA 'broken')

English

defeat

/dɪˈfit/

from Latin/French · Old French desfait, past participle of desfaire

English → ItaliandefeatsconfittaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: feat.What English and Italian share

The ancestor

Old French desfaire‘to undo (des- + faire, Latin FACERE)’

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

The story

French and English call a defeat an 'undoing' (défaite, defeat). Spanish derrota comes from routing the enemy, the same root as French route and English rout.

English relatives: feat

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In a sentence

  • esFue una derrota dolorosa.
  • frC'était une défaite douloureuse.
  • itÈ stata una sconfitta dolorosa.
  • ptFoi uma derrota dolorosa.
  • roA fost o înfrângere dureroasă.
  • caVa ser una derrota dolorosa.
  • enIt was a painful defeat.

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