"mouth" in seven languages
Meaningmouth
Spanish
boca
/ˈboka/
fem.inherited
French
bouche
/buʃ/
fem.inherited
Italian
bocca
/ˈbokka/
fem.inherited
Portuguese
boca
/ˈbokɐ/
fem.inherited
Romanian
gură
/ˈgurə/
fem.other source · Latin GULAM 'throat, gullet'
plural: guri
Catalan
boca
/ˈbokə/
fem.inherited
English
mouth
/maʊθ/
native English · Old English mūþ
English → ItalianmouthboccaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: buccal; oral (from ŌS).What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
BUCCAM‘puffed-out cheek’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Latin's proper word for mouth, ŌS, was short and easily confused with OS 'bone'; speech used BUCCA, the puffed cheek. French turned its ca into che, as in vache from VACCA.
English relatives: buccal; oral (from ŌS)
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esAbra la boca, por favor.
- frOuvrez la bouche, s'il vous plaît.
- itApra la bocca, per favore.
- ptAbra a boca, por favor.
- roDeschideți gura, vă rog.
- caObri la boca, si us plau.
- enOpen your mouth, please.