Skip to content

"payment" in seven languages

Meaningpayment

Spanish

pago

/ˈpaɡo/

masc.inherited

Formed from the verb pagar.

French

paiement

/pɛmɑ̃/

masc.inherited

The spelling payement also exists.

Italian

pagamento

/paɡaˈmento/

masc.inherited

Portuguese

pagamento

/pagaˈmẽtu/

masc.inherited

Romanian

plată

/ˈplatə/

fem.other source · plăti 'to pay', from Old Church Slavonic platiti

Catalan

pagament

/pəgəˈmen/

masc.inherited

English

payment

/ˈpeɪmənt/

from Latin/French · Old French paiement

English → ItalianpaymentpagamentoCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

PĀCĀRE‘to pacify, appease (from PĀX 'peace')’

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

The story

To pay was to pacify a creditor: PĀCĀRE comes from PĀX 'peace'. Spanish and Italian voiced the c to g (pagar, pagare); French lost it altogether (payer, paiement).

English relatives: pay, pacify, peace

Sound laws at work

Voiceless stops between vowels soften

Learn it

Practice the Work & money deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • esEl pago vence el viernes.
  • frLe paiement est dû vendredi.
  • itIl pagamento scade venerdì.
  • ptO pagamento vence na sexta.
  • roPlata trebuie făcută până vineri.
  • caEl pagament venç divendres.
  • enPayment is due on Friday.

More words from the same Latin

More in Work & money

All Work & money words