"pair" in seven languages
Meaningpair
Spanish
/paɾ/
masc.inherited
Un par de also means 'a couple of, a few'.
French
/pɛʁ/
fem.inherited
From the neuter plural PĀRIA, hence feminine.
Italian
/ˈpajo/
masc.inherited
plural: paia
The plural is feminine: due paia di scarpe.
Portuguese
/pah/
masc.inherited
Romanian
/peˈreke/
fem.other source · spoken Latin *PARICULA, a diminutive of PĀR 'equal'
Latin -CL- became -ch- [k]: *PARICLA → pereche, as OCULUM → ochi.
Catalan
/pəˈɾeʎ/
masc.other source · spoken Latin *PARICULUM, a diminutive of PĀR 'equal'
English
/pɛɹ/
from Latin/French · Old French paire
The Latin ancestor
PĀREM / PĀRIA‘equal; a matching set’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
A pair is two equals (PĀR). French took the neuter plural PĀRIA, which looked like a feminine singular; Italian paio keeps a neuter-style plural in -a, like uovo → uova.
English relatives: par, parity, peer, compare
Learn it
In a sentence
- esNecesito un par de zapatos nuevos.
- frJ'ai besoin d'une nouvelle paire de chaussures.
- itMi serve un paio di scarpe nuove.
- ptPreciso de um par de sapatos novos.
- roAm nevoie de o pereche nouă de pantofi.
- caEm cal un parell de sabates noves.
- enI need a new pair of shoes.