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"hip" in seven languages

Meaninghip

Spanish

cadera

/kaˈdeɾa/

fem.other source · Latin CATHEDRA 'chair, seat' (from Greek), through a spoken-Latin form

French

hanche

/ɑ̃ʃ/

fem.inherited

la hanche (h aspiré: no elision)

Italian

anca

/ˈanka/

fem.inherited

Portuguese

quadril

/kwaˈdɾiw/

masc.other source · of uncertain origin, perhaps from quadro 'square' (Latin QUADRUM)

European Portuguese prefers anca, the same Germanic word as French hanche.

Romanian

șold

/ʃold/

neut.other source · of uncertain origin

Catalan

maluc

/məˈluk/

masc.other source · of uncertain origin

English

hip

/hɪp/

native English · Old English hype

English → ItalianhipancaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: haunch (via French).What English and Italian share

The ancestor

Germanic *hanka‘hip, haunch’

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

The story

French and Italian took a Germanic word for the hip; English later borrowed the French one as haunch. Spanish cadera is the body's 'seat', from the same Latin CATHEDRA that gave cathedral.

English relatives: haunch (via French)

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esSe rompió la cadera.
  • frElle s'est cassé la hanche.
  • itSi è rotta l'anca.
  • ptEla quebrou o quadril.
  • roȘi-a rupt șoldul.
  • caS'ha trencat el maluc.
  • enShe broke her hip.

More in The body

All The body words