"machine" in seven languages
Meaningmachine
Spanish
máquina
/ˈmakina/
fem.learned
French
machine
/maʃin/
fem.learned
Italian
macchina
/ˈmakkina/
fem.learned
On its own, macchina usually means 'car'.
Portuguese
máquina
/ˈmakinɐ/
fem.learned
Romanian
mașină
/maˈʃinə/
fem.borrowed · French machine (and German Maschine)
In everyday Romanian mașină above all means 'car'.
Catalan
màquina
/ˈmakinə/
fem.learned
English
machine
/məˈʃin/
from Latin/French · Middle French machine
English → ItalianmachinemacchinaCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
MACHINAM‘device, contrivance (from Greek mēkhanḗ)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
A learned word everywhere, which is why Spanish and Italian keep Latin's stress on the first syllable. English took the French sh-sound along with the word.
English relatives: machinery, mechanic, mechanism
Learn it
In a sentence
- esLa máquina de café está rota.
- frLa machine à café est en panne.
- itLa macchina del caffè è rotta.
- ptA máquina de café quebrou.
- roMașina de cafea s-a stricat.
- caLa màquina de cafè està espatllada.
- enThe coffee machine is broken.
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