"full" in seven languages
Meaningfull
Spanish
lleno
/ˈʝeno/
inherited
French
plein
/plɛ̃/
inherited
fem.: pleine
Italian
pieno
/ˈpjɛno/
inherited
Portuguese
cheio
/ˈʃeju/
inherited
PL- became ch- and the intervocalic n was lost: PLĒNUM → cheio.
Romanian
plin
/plin/
inherited
Catalan
ple
/ple/
inherited
fem.: plena
English
full
/fʊl/
Indo-European kin · PIE *pleh₁-
English → ItalianfullpienoDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: plenty, plenary, replenish.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
PLĒNUM‘full’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
The showcase for PL-: Spanish ll-, French pl- kept, Italian pi-. Learned pleno survives in Spanish (en pleno día).
English relatives: plenty, plenary, replenish
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEl autobús está lleno.
- frLe bus est plein.
- itL'autobus è pieno.
- ptO ônibus está cheio.
- roAutobuzul e plin.
- caL'autobús està ple.
- enThe bus is full.