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"edge" in seven languages

Meaningedge

Spanish

borde

/ˈboɾde/

masc.borrowed · French bord

French

bord

/bɔʁ/

masc.inherited

Also the side of a ship: à bord 'on board'.

Italian

bordo

/ˈbordo/

masc.borrowed · French bord

A bordo 'on board'; for a sharp edge Italians also say spigolo.

Portuguese

borda

/ˈbɔhdɐ/

fem.borrowed · French bord

Brazilians also say beira: na beira da mesa.

Romanian

margine

/ˈmardʒine/

fem.other source · Latin MARGINEM 'border, edge'

Catalan

vora

/ˈbɔɾə/

fem.other source · Latin ŌRAM 'edge, border', with a v- added

English

edge

/ɛdʒ/

native English · Old English ecg

English → ItalianedgebordoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: border (via French).What English and Italian share

The ancestor

Frankish *bord‘plank, side of a ship’

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

The story

A Frankish word for a ship's plank side became the French word for any edge; Spanish and Italian took it from French. English border comes from the same French family, while English board is a native Germanic relative.

English relatives: border (via French)

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esNo pongas el vaso en el borde de la mesa.
  • frNe mets pas le verre au bord de la table.
  • itNon mettere il bicchiere sul bordo del tavolo.
  • ptNão ponha o copo na borda da mesa.
  • roNu pune paharul pe marginea mesei.
  • caNo posis el got a la vora de la taula.
  • enDon't put the glass on the edge of the table.

More in Ideas

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