"home, hearth" in seven languages
Meaninghome, hearth
Spanish
/oˈgaɾ/
masc.inherited
From the adjective FOCĀRIS 'of the hearth'.
French
/fwaje/
masc.inherited
From *FOCĀRIUM; also a hostel, a lobby, a focal point.
Italian
/fokoˈlare/
masc.inherited
From *FOCULĀRE, built on the diminutive FOCULUS.
Portuguese
/lah/
masc.other source · Latin LAREM, the household god
Romanian
/kəˈmin/
neut.other source · Slavic kaminŭ 'stove' (ultimately Latin CAMĪNUS)
Also a student hostel.
Catalan
/ʎa/
fem.other source · Latin LAREM, the household god
The fireplace itself is the llar de foc.
English
/hoʊm/
native English · Old English hām
The Latin ancestor
FOCUM‘hearth, fireplace’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Latin FOCUS was the hearth, and spoken Latin made it the word for fire itself (fuego, feu, fuoco). The hearth-words mean 'home' in a warm sense: the fire everyone gathers round.
English relatives: focus, focal, fuel, curfew (couvre-feu 'cover the fire')