"pear" in seven languages
Meaningpear
Spanish
pera
/ˈpeɾa/
fem.inherited
The tree is el peral.
French
poire
/pwaʁ/
fem.inherited
The tree is le poirier.
Italian
pera
/ˈpera/
fem.inherited
The tree is il pero, masculine like Latin PIRUS.
Portuguese
pera
/ˈpeɾɐ/
fem.inherited
Romanian
pară
/ˈparə/
fem.inherited
Plural pere; the tree is părul.
Catalan
pera
/ˈpeɾə/
fem.inherited
English
pear
/pɛɹ/
from Latin/French · Old English peru, from Latin PIRA
English → ItalianpearperaCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
PIRA (plural of PIRUM)‘pears’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Romance fruit is plural at heart: Latin PIRUM 'a pear' had the plural PIRA, and that -a was heard as a feminine singular — la pera, la poire. French poire also shows short I → oi, as in soif.
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEsta pera está muy dulce.
- frCette poire est très sucrée.
- itQuesta pera è molto dolce.
- ptEsta pera está muito doce.
- roPara asta e foarte dulce.
- caAquesta pera és molt dolça.
- enThis pear is very sweet.