"fire" in seven languages
Meaningfire
Spanish
fuego
/ˈfwego/
masc.inherited
French
feu
/fø/
masc.inherited
plural: feux
Italian
fuoco
/ˈfwɔko/
masc.inherited
Portuguese
fogo
/ˈfogu/
masc.inherited
Romanian
foc
/fok/
neut.inherited
Catalan
foc
/fɔk/
masc.inherited
English
fire
/faɪɚ/
native English · Old English fȳr
English → ItalianfirefuocoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: focus, focal, fuel.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
FOCUM‘hearth, fireplace’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Classical IGNIS (ignite) lost out to the homely word for the hearth. A focus is where the rays of light meet, like the warmth at the hearth.
English relatives: focus, focal, fuel
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEncendimos un fuego en la playa.
- frOn a allumé un feu sur la plage.
- itAbbiamo acceso un fuoco sulla spiaggia.
- ptAcendemos uma fogueira na praia.
- roAm aprins un foc pe plajă.
- caVam encendre un foc a la platja.
- enWe lit a fire on the beach.