"lake" in seven languages
Meaninglake
Spanish
lago
/ˈlago/
masc.inherited
French
lac
/lak/
masc.learned
Taken back from written Latin LACUS in the Middle Ages, which is why the c is still pronounced.
Italian
lago
/ˈlago/
masc.inherited
Portuguese
lago
/ˈlagu/
masc.inherited
Romanian
lac
/lak/
neut.inherited
Catalan
llac
/ʎak/
masc.inherited
English
lake
/leɪk/
from Latin/French · Old French lac
English → ItalianlakelagoCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
LACUM (nom. LACUS)‘lake, basin’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spanish and Italian voiced the intervocalic k to g; French lac skipped the sound laws because it was re-borrowed from written Latin.
English relatives: lake, lagoon
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esNadamos en el lago.
- frOn s'est baignés dans le lac.
- itAbbiamo nuotato nel lago.
- ptNadamos no lago.
- roAm înotat în lac.
- caVam nedar al llac.
- enWe swam in the lake.