"left (side)" in seven languages
Meaningleft (side)
Spanish
/iθˈkjeɾda/
fem.other source · pre-Roman, akin to Basque ezker 'left'
French
/goʃ/
fem.other source · from gauchir 'to warp, swerve', of Frankish origin
Italian
/siˈnistra/
fem.inherited
Portuguese
/esˈkehdɐ/
fem.other source · pre-Roman, akin to Basque ezker 'left'
Romanian
/ˈstɨŋgə/
fem.other source · Vulgar Latin *STANCUS 'weary, weak' (debated)
Catalan
/əsˈkɛrə/
fem.other source · pre-Roman, akin to Basque ezker 'left'
English
/lɛft/
native English · Old English left 'weak'
The Latin ancestor
SINISTRAM‘left (also 'unlucky')’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
The left was ill-omened, so its words kept being replaced: Spanish took a word shared with Basque, French a word for 'crooked' (English gauche, clumsy). Only Italian kept SINISTRA.
English relatives: sinister
Learn it
In a sentence
- esGira a la izquierda al final de la calle.
- frTourne à gauche au bout de la rue.
- itGira a sinistra in fondo alla strada.
- ptVire à esquerda no fim da rua.
- roFaceți la stânga la capătul străzii.
- caGira a l'esquerra al final del carrer.
- enTurn left at the end of the street.