"face" in seven languages
Meaningface
Spanish
/ˈkaɾa/
fem.other source · Late Latin CARA 'face', from Greek kára 'head'
French
/vizaʒ/
masc.other source · Old French vis 'face' (Latin VĪSUM 'sight') + -age
Italian
/ˈfattʃa/
fem.inherited
Also viso, from VĪSUM like French visage.
Portuguese
/ˈhostu/
masc.other source · Latin RŌSTRUM 'beak, snout'
Cara is also everyday Brazilian, and also means 'guy'.
Romanian
/ˈfatsə/
fem.inherited
Catalan
/ˈkaɾə/
fem.other source · Late Latin CARA 'face', from Greek kára 'head'
English
/feɪs/
from Latin/French · Old French face
Watch out: false friends
cara (Italian) means “dear (fem.)” · cara (Spanish) means “face”
Coincidence. Spanish cara comes from Greek kárā 'head' via Late Latin; Italian cara is Latin CĀRAM 'dear'. (Spanish has the same adjective: caro, cara 'expensive, dear'.)
The Latin ancestor
FACIEM‘face, appearance’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Only Italian keeps FACIĒS in daily use (faccia). Spanish cara came from Greek kára 'head' through Late Latin; French visage is 'the part that is seen'. The old words survive in set phrases: Spanish faz, French en face.
English relatives: face, facial, surface; visage (fr)
Learn it
In a sentence
- esLávate la cara.
- frLave-toi le visage.
- itLavati la faccia.
- ptLava o rosto.
- roSpală-te pe față.
- caRenta't la cara.
- enWash your face.