"oil" in seven languages
Meaningoil
Spanish
/aˈθejte/
masc.other source · Andalusian Arabic az-zayt 'olive oil'
The Latin word survives only as learned óleo, 'oil paint; holy oil'.
French
/ɥil/
fem.inherited
The h- was added in writing so that Old French uile would not be read as vile.
Italian
/ˈɔljo/
masc.inherited
l'olio
Portuguese
/aˈzejtʃi/
masc.other source · Andalusian Arabic az-zayt 'olive oil'
Óleo, the learned Latin word, is for other oils (motor oil, oil paint).
Romanian
/uˈlej/
neut.inherited
Catalan
/ˈɔli/
masc.inherited
English
/ɔɪl/
from Latin/French · Old French oile
The Latin ancestor
OLEUM‘(olive) oil’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spain grew olives under Arab rule and kept the Arabic name for the oil — the aceituna (olive) too — while French and Italian kept Latin OLEUM.
English relatives: oil (via French), petroleum, linoleum
Learn it
In a sentence
- esFríelo en aceite de oliva.
- frFais-le frire dans l'huile d'olive.
- itFriggilo nell'olio d'oliva.
- ptFrite no azeite.
- roPrăjește-l în ulei de măsline.
- caFregeix-ho amb oli d'oliva.
- enFry it in olive oil.