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"makeup (cosmetics)" in seven languages

Meaningmakeup (cosmetics)

Spanish

maquillaje

/makiˈʝaxe/

masc.borrowed · French maquillage

French

maquillage

/makijaʒ/

masc.borrowed · probably Picard maquier 'to make', from Middle Dutch maken (19th-c. slang maquiller)

Italian

trucco

/ˈtrukko/

masc.other source · Italian truccare, from French truquer (truc 'trick', of uncertain origin)

Also 'trick': un trucco.

Portuguese

maquiagem

/makiˈaʒẽj/

fem.borrowed · French maquillage

European Portuguese says maquilhagem.

Romanian

machiaj

/maˈkjaʒ/

neut.borrowed · French maquillage

Catalan

maquillatge

/məkiˈʎadʒə/

masc.borrowed · French maquillage

English

makeup

/ˈmeɪkʌp/

native English · English make up 'to put together'

If the French etymology is right, make and maquiller are distant cousins.

English → Italianmakeup (cosmetics)truccoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: make.What English and Italian share

The ancestor

Middle Dutch maken‘to make’

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

The story

French maquiller began as slang for 'to fake, doctor', probably from a Picard verb 'to make' borrowed from Dutch. Spanish took the French word; Italian sees makeup as a trick: trucco.

English relatives: make

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In a sentence

  • esNunca lleva maquillaje.
  • frElle ne porte jamais de maquillage.
  • itNon si mette mai il trucco.
  • ptEla nunca usa maquiagem.
  • roNu poartă niciodată machiaj.
  • caMai porta maquillatge.
  • enShe never wears makeup.

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