"leg" in seven languages
Meaningleg
Spanish
/ˈpjeɾna/
fem.other source · Latin PERNAM 'ham, haunch'
French
/ʒɑ̃b/
fem.inherited
Italian
/ˈgamba/
fem.inherited
Portuguese
/ˈpɛhnɐ/
fem.other source · Latin PERNAM 'ham, haunch'
Romanian
/piˈtʃjor/
neut.other source · Latin PETIOLUM 'little foot, stalk'
plural: picioare
Picior is both the leg and the foot.
Catalan
/ˈkamə/
fem.inherited
English
/lɛg/
native English · Old Norse leggr
Watch out: false friends
gamba (Spanish) means “prawn” · gamba (Italian) means “leg”
Coincidence. Italian gamba is Late Latin GAMBA 'hock (of a horse)'; Spanish gamba came from Catalan, ultimately from Latin CAMMARUS 'crayfish' — the true cognate of Italian gambero.
cama (Spanish) means “bed” · cama (Catalan) means “leg”
Coincidence. Catalan cama is Late Latin CAMBA 'hock, leg' (the source of Italian gamba and French jambe); Spanish and Portuguese cama 'bed' is a Late Latin word of Hispanic, probably pre-Roman, origin.
The Latin ancestor
CAMBAM / GAMBAM‘hock (Late Latin, from Greek kampḗ 'bend')’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
French and Italian walk on a vets' word: Late Latin CAMBA, a horse's hock. Spanish pierna is PERNA 'ham', its open e broken into ie — while ham itself, jamón, Spanish borrowed from French jambon.
English relatives: jamb, gambol, gambit
Learn it
In a sentence
- esMe rompí la pierna esquiando.
- frJe me suis cassé la jambe en skiant.
- itMi sono rotto la gamba sciando.
- ptQuebrei a perna esquiando.
- roMi-am rupt piciorul la schi.
- caEm vaig trencar la cama esquiant.
- enI broke my leg skiing.