"old" in seven languages
Meaningold
Spanish
viejo
/ˈbjexo/
inherited
French
vieux
/vjø/
inherited
fem.: vieille
Vieil before a vowel: un vieil ami.
Italian
vecchio
/ˈvɛkkjo/
inherited
Portuguese
velho
/ˈvɛʎu/
inherited
Spoken *VECLU: Portuguese turned cl into lh, as OCULUM → olho.
Romanian
vechi
/vekʲ/
inherited
fem.: veche
Romanian kept cl as a k with a palatal glide (chi), as OCULUM → ochi.
Catalan
vell
/beʎ/
inherited
English
old
/oʊld/
native English · Old English ald
English → ItalianoldvecchioNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: veteran, inveterate (VETUS).What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
VETULUM (spoken *VECLU)‘oldish, little old (diminutive of VETUS)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spoken Latin preferred the cosy diminutive VETULUS, which slurred to *veclu; the cl then became Spanish j, French il(l) and Italian cchi — exactly as in OCULUM → ojo, œil, occhio.
English relatives: veteran, inveterate (VETUS)
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEs una iglesia muy vieja.
- frC'est une très vieille église.
- itÈ una chiesa molto vecchia.
- ptÉ uma igreja muito velha.
- roE o biserică foarte veche.
- caÉs una església molt vella.
- enIt's a very old church.