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"pan (frying pan)" in seven languages

Meaningpan (frying pan)

Spanish

sartén

/saɾˈten/

fem.other source · Latin SARTĀGINEM 'frying pan'

French

poêle

/pwal/

fem.inherited

Spelled with -oê- but said pwal; le poêle (masculine) is a stove.

Italian

padella

/paˈdɛlla/

fem.inherited

Portuguese

frigideira

/fɾiʒiˈdejɾɐ/

fem.other source · frigir 'to fry', from Latin FRĪGERE

Romanian

tigaie

/tiˈɡaje/

fem.other source · Modern Greek tigáni 'frying pan'

Catalan

paella

/pəˈeʎə/

fem.inherited

The Valencian rice dish is named after the pan it is cooked in.

English

pan

/pæn/

other source · Old English panne, of uncertain origin

English → Italianpan (frying pan)padellaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: patella (the kneecap, 'little dish').What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

PATELLAM‘small dish, pan’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

French and Italian both come from PATELLA, the little dish that also names the kneecap; the T softened to d in Italian and vanished in French. Spanish kept SARTĀGINEM, the Romans' own word for a frying pan.

English relatives: patella (the kneecap, 'little dish')

Sound laws at work

Voiceless stops between vowels soften

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In a sentence

  • esCalienta el aceite en una sartén.
  • frFais chauffer l'huile dans une poêle.
  • itScalda l'olio in una padella.
  • ptEsquente o óleo numa frigideira.
  • roÎncălzește uleiul într-o tigaie.
  • caEscalfa l'oli en una paella.
  • enHeat the oil in a pan.

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