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"giant" in seven languages

Meaninggiant

Spanish

gigante

/xiˈgante/

masc.learned

French

géant

/ʒeɑ̃/

masc.inherited

Feminine géante; also an adjective.

Italian

gigante

/dʒiˈgante/

masc.learned

Portuguese

gigante

/ʒiˈgɐ̃tʃi/

masc.learned

Romanian

uriaș

/uriˈaʃ/

masc.other source · Hungarian óriás

The learned gigant also exists, mostly as 'giant (company, star)'.

Catalan

gegant

/ʒəˈgan/

masc.inherited

The gegants are the huge figures paraded at Catalan festes.

English

giant

/ˈdʒaɪənt/

from Latin/French · Old French geant

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

The Latin ancestor

GIGANTEM (Greek gígas)‘giant’

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

The story

French lost the middle g (géant), and English giant came from French; Spanish and Italian took the Latin form whole. The initial g shows the j-g law plainly: x, ʒ, dʒ.

English relatives: gigantic, gigabyte

Sound laws at work

Initial I- (J-) and G before E, I

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In a sentence

  • esEn el cuento, un gigante vive en el castillo.
  • frDans le conte, un géant vit dans le château.
  • itNella fiaba, un gigante abita nel castello.
  • ptNa história, um gigante mora no castelo.
  • roÎn poveste, un uriaș locuiește în castel.
  • caAl conte, un gegant viu al castell.
  • enIn the story, a giant lives in the castle.

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