"prison" in seven languages

Meaningprison

Spanish

cárcel

/ˈkaɾθel/

fem.other source · Latin CARCEREM 'prison'

French

prison

/pʁizɔ̃/

fem.inherited

Italian

prigione

/priˈdʒone/

fem.borrowed · Old French prison

Also carcere, Spanish cárcel's cognate.

Portuguese

prisão

/pɾiˈzɐ̃w/

fem.inherited

Everyday Brazilian also says cadeia.

Romanian

închisoare

/ɨnkiˈso̯are/

fem.other source · from închide 'to shut' (Latin INCLŪDERE)

plural: închisori

Catalan

presó

/pɾəˈzo/

fem.inherited

English

prison

/ˈpɹɪzən/

from Latin/French · Old French prisun

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

The Latin ancestor

PREHĒNSIŌNEM‘a seizing, arrest’

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

French prison is 'the seizing'; Italian borrowed it but also kept carcere, which Spanish made its main word.

English relatives: prison, apprehend, comprehend; incarcerate (CARCER)