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"force, strength" in seven languages

Meaningforce, strength

Spanish

fuerza

/ˈfweɾθa/

fem.inherited

French

force

/fɔʁs/

fem.inherited

Italian

forza

/ˈfɔrtsa/

fem.inherited

Portuguese

força

/ˈfohsɐ/

fem.inherited

Romanian

forță

/ˈfortsə/

fem.borrowed · French force and Italian forza

The native word for strength is putere (*POTĒRE).

Catalan

força

/ˈfɔɾsə/

fem.inherited

English

force

/fɔɹs/

from Latin/French · Old French force

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

The Latin ancestor

FORTIAM‘strength (Late Latin, from FORTIS 'strong')’

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

The story

Late Latin made a noun out of FORTIS 'strong'. Spanish broke the open o into ue (fuerza), and TI became a z-sound in Spanish and Italian, an s in French.

English relatives: fort, fortress, comfort, effort

Sound laws at work

Stressed short O breaks into ue / uo / eu

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In a sentence

  • esTiró con todas sus fuerzas.
  • frIl a tiré de toutes ses forces.
  • itHa tirato con tutte le sue forze.
  • ptEle puxou com toda a força.
  • roA tras cu toată forța.
  • caVa estirar amb totes les seves forces.
  • enHe pulled with all his strength.

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