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"donkey" in seven languages

Meaningdonkey

Spanish

burro

/ˈburo/

masc.other source · back-formed from borrico, from Late Latin BURRĪCUM 'small horse'

Asno (from ASINUM) also exists.

French

âne

/an/

masc.inherited

Old French asne: the circumflex marks the lost s.

Italian

asino

/ˈazino/

masc.inherited

Watch out: Italian burro means butter, not donkey.

Portuguese

burro

/ˈbuhu/

masc.other source · Latin BURRĪCUM 'small horse, nag'

Also jumento; asno is literary.

Romanian

măgar

/məˈgar/

masc.other source · of uncertain origin, shared with neighbouring Balkan languages

Catalan

ase

/ˈazə/

masc.inherited

English

donkey

/ˈdɑŋki/

native English · 18th-century English, origin uncertain

English → ItaliandonkeyasinoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: ass, asinine.What English and Italian share

Watch out: false friends

  • burro (Italian) means “butter” · burro (Spanish) means “donkey”

    Coincidence. Italian burro (probably via Old French burre) goes back to Latin BŪTȲRUM, from Greek boútyron; Spanish burro is a back-formation from borrico, from Late Latin BURRĪCUS 'small horse'.

All false friends

The Latin ancestor

ASINUM‘donkey’

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

The story

False-friend alert: Spanish burro is a donkey, Italian burro is butter. In all three the donkey also stands for a dunce.

English relatives: ass, asinine

Sound laws at work

French loses S before a consonant (^)

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esEl burro lleva las bolsas.
  • frL'âne porte les sacs.
  • itL'asino porta le borse.
  • ptO burro carrega os sacos.
  • roMăgarul duce sacii.
  • caL'ase porta els sacs.
  • enThe donkey carries the bags.

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