"luck" in seven languages
Meaningluck
Spanish
suerte
/ˈsweɾte/
fem.inherited
French
chance
/ʃɑ̃s/
fem.other source · Vulgar Latin *CADENTIA 'the fall (of the dice)', from CADERE 'to fall'
Italian
fortuna
/forˈtuna/
fem.other source · learned Latin FORTŪNAM 'fortune, chance'
Portuguese
sorte
/ˈsɔhtʃi/
fem.inherited
Romanian
noroc
/noˈrok/
neut.other source · Slavic narokŭ 'fate, destiny'
Also a toast: Noroc! 'Cheers!'
Catalan
sort
/sɔrt/
fem.inherited
English
luck
/lʌk/
native English · Middle Dutch luc
English → ItalianluckfortunaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: sort, consort; chance (French's source).What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
SORTEM‘lot (drawn), fate’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Luck is the lot you draw (Spanish), how the dice fall (French) or the goddess Fortuna (Italian). French sort, from the same SORTEM, means 'fate, spell'.
English relatives: sort, consort; chance (French's source)
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- es¡Buena suerte!
- frBonne chance !
- itBuona fortuna!
- ptBoa sorte!
- roMult noroc!
- caBona sort!
- enGood luck!