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"excuse" in seven languages

Meaningexcuse

Spanish

excusa

/eksˈkusa/

fem.learned

To apologize, Spanish more often uses disculpa.

French

excuse

/ɛkskyz/

fem.learned

In the plural it means 'apology': présenter ses excuses.

Italian

scusa

/ˈskuza/

fem.inherited

Also the everyday 'sorry!': scusa! (scusi! formally).

Portuguese

desculpa

/dʒisˈkuwpɐ/

fem.other source · Portuguese desculpar, built on Latin CULPA 'fault'

Also the everyday 'sorry!': desculpa! Escusa exists but is formal.

Romanian

scuză

/ˈskuzə/

fem.borrowed · Italian scusa and French excuse

Catalan

excusa

/əksˈkuzə/

fem.learned

To apologize, Catalan says disculpa or perdó.

English

excuse

/ɪkˈskjus/

from Latin/French · Old French escuse

The noun ends in s, the verb in z.

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

The Latin ancestor

EXCŪSĀRE‘to free from a charge’

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

The story

EX + CAUSA: to take someone 'out of the case'. Italian wore the ex- away entirely and made scusa its everyday word for 'sorry'.

English relatives: cause, accuse, excusable

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In a sentence

  • esEso no es excusa.
  • frCe n'est pas une excuse.
  • itNon è una scusa.
  • ptIsso não é desculpa.
  • roAsta nu e o scuză.
  • caAixò no és cap excusa.
  • enThat's no excuse.

The Latin family

CAUS-· cause, case

CAUSA 'reason, lawsuit' became the ordinary Romance word for 'thing': cosa, chose, cosa — a 'matter' in the legal sense, generalized. The learned doublet causa, cause kept the original meaning, and the courtroom sense lives on in accuse and excuse. Portuguese coisa (Old Portuguese cousa) and Catalan cosa followed; Romanian says lucru, from LUCRUM 'gain'.

  • CAUSAMcause; case → thing

    escosafrchoseitcosaptcoisacacosa

  • CAUSAMcause (learned)

    escausafrcauseitcausaptcausarocauzăcacausaencause

  • CAUSĀRĪ (Med. Lat. CAUSĀRE)to plead a case; to cause

    escausarfrcauseritcausareptcausarrocauzacacausarencause

  • ACCŪSĀREto call to account

    esacusarfraccuseritaccusareptacusarroacuzacaacusarenaccuse

  • EXCŪSĀREto free from a charge

    esexcusarfrexcuseritscusareptescusarroscuzacaexcusarenexcuse

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