"organic" in seven languages
Meaningorganic
Spanish
orgánico
/oɾˈganiko/
learned
For food, Spain usually says ecológico or bio.
French
organique
/ɔʁganik/
learned
For food, French says bio: des légumes bio.
Italian
organico
/orˈganiko/
learned
For food, Italian says biologico or bio.
Portuguese
orgânico
/oɾˈɡɐniku/
learned
Romanian
organic
/orˈɡanik/
learned
Catalan
orgànic
/uɾˈɡanik/
learned
English
organic
/ɔɹˈgænɪk/
from Latin/French · Latin ORGANICUS
English → ItalianorganicorganicoCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
ORGANICUM‘instrumental (Greek organikós, from órganon 'tool')’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Greek órganon was a tool, hence the church organ and the body's organs. The 'grown without chemicals' sense is English-led; in the shops the sisters mostly say bio or ecológico.
English relatives: organ, organism, organize
Learn it
In a sentence
- esLos residuos orgánicos van al contenedor marrón.
- frLes déchets organiques vont dans la poubelle marron.
- itI rifiuti organici vanno nel bidone marrone.
- ptO lixo orgânico vai no contêiner marrom.
- roDeșeurile organice se pun în containerul maro.
- caEls residus orgànics van al contenidor marró.
- enOrganic waste goes in the brown bin.