"flea" in seven languages
Meaningflea
Spanish
pulga
/ˈpulɡa/
fem.inherited
French
puce
/pys/
fem.inherited
Also a microchip; le marché aux puces is the flea market.
Italian
pulce
/ˈpultʃe/
fem.inherited
Portuguese
pulga
/ˈpuwɡɐ/
fem.inherited
Romanian
purice
/ˈpuritʃe/
masc.inherited
Plural purici.
Catalan
puça
/ˈpusə/
fem.inherited
English
flea
/fli/
native English · Old English flēah
English → ItalianfleapulceNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
PŪLICEM (nom. PŪLEX)‘flea’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
PŪLICEM split on its C: once the i dropped, Spanish and Portuguese voiced it to g (pulga), while French, Italian and Catalan softened it before the e (puce, pulce, puça). Romanian purice turns the l into r between vowels.
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEl perro tiene pulgas.
- frLe chien a des puces.
- itIl cane ha le pulci.
- ptO cachorro está com pulgas.
- roCâinele are purici.
- caEl gos té puces.
- enThe dog has fleas.