"hospital" in seven languages
Meaninghospital
Spanish
hospital
/ospiˈtal/
masc.learned
French
hôpital
/opital/
masc.learned
Italian
ospedale
/ospeˈdale/
masc.inherited
Portuguese
hospital
/ospiˈtaw/
masc.learned
Romanian
spital
/spiˈtal/
neut.borrowed · Modern Greek spitáli (from Latin HOSPITĀLE)
Catalan
hospital
/uspiˈtal/
masc.learned
English
hospital
/ˈhɑspɪtəl/
from Latin/French · Old French hospital
English → ItalianhospitalospedaleCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
HOSPITĀLEM‘for guests (from HOSPES 'guest')’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
A hospital was first a guest-house. French has both branches: the learned hôpital and the inherited hôtel, which lost its middle syllable. Italian ospedale voiced its t, as in strada from STRĀTA.
English relatives: hospital, hospitality, hotel, hostel
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esMi abuela está en el hospital.
- frMa grand-mère est à l'hôpital.
- itMia nonna è in ospedale.
- ptMinha avó está no hospital.
- roBunica mea e internată în spital.
- caLa meva àvia és a l'hospital.
- enMy grandmother is in the hospital.
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