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"loan" in seven languages

Meaningloan

Spanish

préstamo

/ˈpɾestamo/

masc.inherited

Built on prestar 'to lend'.

French

prêt

/pʁɛ/

masc.inherited

Built on prêter 'to lend'.

Italian

prestito

/ˈprɛstito/

masc.inherited

Portuguese

empréstimo

/ẽˈpɾɛstʃimu/

masc.inherited

From emprestar, Latin PRAESTĀRE with the prefix IN-.

Romanian

împrumut

/ɨmpruˈmut/

neut.other source · Latin *IMPRŌMUTUĀRE 'to lend in advance'

Catalan

préstec

/ˈpɾestək/

masc.inherited

English

loan

/loʊn/

other source · Old Norse lán

English → ItalianloanprestitoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh.What English and Italian share

Watch out: false friends

  • presto (Italian) means “soon, early” · prêt (French) means “ready”

    Both from Latin PRAESTŌ 'at hand' (Late Latin adjective PRAESTUS). French kept 'ready'; Italian 'right away' → 'soon'. The two languages crossed with pronto.

All false friends

The Latin ancestor

PRAESTĀRE‘to vouch for, provide’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

Latin PRAESTĀRE meant 'to provide, guarantee'; the sisters narrowed it to lending. French dropped the s before t and left a circumflex: prêt.

Sound laws at work

French loses S before a consonant (^)

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esEl banco me concedió un préstamo.
  • frLa banque m'a accordé un prêt.
  • itLa banca mi ha concesso un prestito.
  • ptO banco me concedeu um empréstimo.
  • roBanca mi-a acordat un împrumut.
  • caEl banc em va concedir un préstec.
  • enThe bank gave me a loan.

More in Work & money

All Work & money words