"forest, wood" in seven languages
Meaningforest, wood
Spanish
/ˈboske/
masc.borrowed · Catalan or Occitan bosc
A dense tropical forest is a selva, from Latin SILVAM.
French
/fɔʁɛ/
fem.other source · Medieval Latin (silva) FORESTIS, a royal hunting reserve; origin of forestis debated
French also has bois 'wood', from the same *BOSC- family as bosque and bosco.
Italian
/ˈbɔsko/
masc.inherited
Portuguese
/floˈɾɛstɐ/
fem.other source · Old French forest, reshaped after flor 'flower'
A smaller wood is a mata or bosque.
Romanian
/pəˈdure/
fem.other source · Latin PALŪDEM 'marsh' (inherited)
Catalan
/bɔsk/
masc.inherited
English
/ˈfɔɹɪst/
other source · Old French forest, from Medieval Latin forestis (silva) 'outside (wood)'
The Latin ancestor
*BOSCUM‘wood, thicket (Late Latin; probably Germanic *busk- 'bush', origin debated)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Latin SILVA largely vanished from everyday speech: Spanish and Italian chose a word that probably meant 'bush', French a legal term for land set apart for the king's hunt.
English relatives: forest (from French); bush, bouquet (the *busk- family)
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In a sentence
- esFuimos a pasear por el bosque.
- frOn est allés se promener en forêt.
- itSiamo andati a passeggiare nel bosco.
- ptFomos passear na floresta.
- roNe-am plimbat prin pădure.
- caVam anar a passejar pel bosc.
- enWe went for a walk in the forest.