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"degree (of temperature, angle)" in seven languages

Meaningdegree (of temperature, angle)

Spanish

grado

/ˈgɾado/

masc.inherited

French

degré

/dəgʁe/

masc.other source · Vulgar Latin *DĒGRADUM, from GRADUM 'step'

Italian

grado

/ˈgrado/

masc.inherited

Portuguese

grau

/ɡɾaw/

masc.inherited

Portuguese dropped the -D- of GRADUM, leaving a diphthong.

Romanian

grad

/ɡrad/

neut.learned

plural: grade

Catalan

grau

/ɡɾaw/

masc.inherited

Catalan turned the -D- left final by vowel loss into -u: GRADUM → grau, like PEDEM → peu.

English

degree

/dɪˈgɹi/

other source · Old French degré, from *DĒGRADUM (GRADUM with the prefix de-)

English → Italiandegree (of temperature, angle)gradoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: grade, gradual, graduate, degrade.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

GRADUM‘step’

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

The story

GRADUS was a step on a stair. French, and English after it, added a prefix (degré, degree); Spanish and Italian kept the bare word, as English grade does.

English relatives: grade, gradual, graduate, degrade

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In a sentence

  • esHoy hace treinta grados.
  • frIl fait trente degrés aujourd'hui.
  • itOggi ci sono trenta gradi.
  • ptHoje está fazendo trinta graus.
  • roAzi sunt treizeci de grade.
  • caAvui fa trenta graus.
  • enIt's thirty degrees today.

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