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"fever" in seven languages

Meaningfever

Spanish

fiebre

/ˈfjebɾe/

fem.inherited

French

fièvre

/fjɛvʁ/

fem.inherited

Italian

febbre

/ˈfɛbbre/

fem.inherited

Avere la febbre is simply 'to have a temperature'.

Portuguese

febre

/ˈfɛbɾi/

fem.inherited

Romanian

febră

/ˈfebrə/

fem.learned

Catalan

febre

/ˈfebɾə/

fem.inherited

English

fever

/ˈfivɚ/

from Latin/French · Latin febris (Old English fēfor), reinforced by Anglo-French fevre

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

The Latin ancestor

FEBREM (nom. FEBRIS)‘fever’

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

The story

FĔBREM broke its e into ie in Spanish and French; French also softened b to v (fièvre), while Italian doubled it (febbre).

English relatives: fever, febrile

Sound laws at work

Stressed short E breaks into ie

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esEl niño tiene fiebre.
  • frL'enfant a de la fièvre.
  • itIl bambino ha la febbre.
  • ptO menino está com febre.
  • roCopilul are febră.
  • caEl nen té febre.
  • enThe child has a fever.

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