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"pot (for cooking)" in seven languages

Meaningpot (for cooking)

Spanish

olla

/ˈoʝa/

fem.inherited

French

marmite

/maʁmit/

fem.other source · French marmite, probably the old adjective marmite 'hypocritical' (a pot hiding its contents); origin debated

A saucepan is a casserole; French pot is a jar (un pot de confiture).

Italian

pentola

/ˈpentola/

fem.other source · Italian pentola, of uncertain origin

Portuguese

panela

/paˈnɛlɐ/

fem.other source · of debated origin (often traced to a Vulgar Latin diminutive *PANNELLA)

Romanian

oală

/ˈo̯alə/

fem.inherited

OLLAM → oală: stressed o broke into oa before the final ă.

Catalan

olla

/ˈɔʎə/

fem.inherited

Catalan turned Latin -LL- into the palatal ll [ʎ].

English

pot

/pɑt/

native English · Late Old English pott (ultimate origin uncertain)

English → Italianpot (for cooking)pentolaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: olio (a hodgepodge, via Spanish olla).What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

OLLAM‘pot, jar’

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

The story

Only Spanish kept Latin OLLA (with ll now said like y). French cooks in a marmite or casserole, Italian in a pentola; the look-alike French pot is a jar or a pot of paint or flowers.

English relatives: olio (a hodgepodge, via Spanish olla)

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esPon la olla al fuego.
  • frMets la marmite sur le feu.
  • itMetti la pentola sul fuoco.
  • ptPõe a panela no fogo.
  • roPune oala pe foc.
  • caPosa l'olla al foc.
  • enPut the pot on the stove.

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