"liver" in seven languages
Meaningliver
Spanish
/ˈiɡado/
masc.inherited
French
/fwa/
masc.inherited
Foie gras is 'fat liver' — the Roman dish again, with the figs swapped for maize.
Italian
/ˈfeɡato/
masc.inherited
Avere fegato 'to have liver' means to have guts.
Portuguese
/ˈfiɡadu/
masc.inherited
Romanian
/fiˈkat/
masc.inherited
plural: ficați
Keeps the Latin stress on the second syllable.
Catalan
/ˈfedʒə/
masc.inherited
English
/ˈlɪvɚ/
native English · Old English lifer
The Latin ancestor
*FICĀTUM‘(liver) fattened with figs, from FĪCUS 'fig'’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Romans fattened geese on figs and served IECUR FICĀTUM, 'figged liver'; the adjective alone came to mean the organ. Its stress wandered: Romanian ficat keeps Latin's -cát, while Spanish hígado and Italian fegato pulled it back to the first syllable.
English relatives: fig (from FĪCUS)
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEl hígado filtra la sangre.
- frLe foie filtre le sang.
- itIl fegato filtra il sangue.
- ptO fígado filtra o sangue.
- roFicatul filtrează sângele.
- caEl fetge filtra la sang.
- enThe liver filters the blood.