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"flu" in seven languages

Meaningflu

Spanish

gripe

/ˈgɾipe/

fem.borrowed · French grippe

French

grippe

/gʁip/

fem.inherited

From gripper 'to seize'.

Italian

influenza

/influˈɛntsa/

fem.other source · Medieval Latin INFLUENTIA '(the stars') influence'

Portuguese

gripe

/ˈgɾipi/

fem.borrowed · French grippe

Romanian

gripă

/ˈgripə/

fem.borrowed · French grippe

Catalan

grip

/grip/

fem.borrowed · French grippe

English

flu

/flu/

other source · Italian influenza

English → ItalianfluinfluenzaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: grip, grippe; influenza, flu (it).What English and Italian share

The ancestor

Frankish *grīpan‘to seize, grip’

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

The story

French saw flu as something that grips you, and Spanish borrowed the word. Italian blamed the influence of the stars — influenza, the word English borrowed in the 18th century and shortened to flu.

English relatives: grip, grippe; influenza, flu (it)

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esLa mitad de la clase tiene gripe.
  • frLa moitié de la classe a la grippe.
  • itMetà della classe ha l'influenza.
  • ptMetade da turma está com gripe.
  • roJumătate din clasă are gripă.
  • caLa meitat de la classe té la grip.
  • enHalf the class has the flu.

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