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"purchase (something bought)" in seven languages

Meaningpurchase (something bought)

Spanish

compra

/ˈkompɾa/

fem.other source · comprar ← Latin COMPARĀRE 'to procure'

French

achat

/aʃa/

masc.other source · acheter ← spoken Latin *ACCAPTĀRE (from CAPTĀRE 'to try to catch')

Italian

acquisto

/akˈkwisto/

masc.other source · acquistare ← spoken Latin *ACQUISTĀRE (from ACQUĪRERE 'to acquire')

Portuguese

compra

/ˈkõpɾɐ/

fem.other source · comprar ← Latin COMPARĀRE 'to procure'

Romanian

cumpărătură

/kumpərəˈturə/

fem.other source · cumpăra ← Latin COMPARĀRE 'to procure'

The plural cumpărături is 'shopping'; formal Romanian also says achiziție.

Catalan

compra

/ˈkompɾə/

fem.other source · comprar ← Latin COMPARĀRE 'to procure'

English

purchase

/ˈpɝtʃəs/

other source · Anglo-French purchacer 'to seek to obtain' (pur- + chacier 'to chase')

English → Italianpurchase (something bought)acquistoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: (Italian acquisto) acquire, acquisition; (French achat) capture, captive.What English and Italian share

The story

Four different routes to 'getting something': Spanish 'procuring', French 'catching', Italian 'acquiring', English 'chasing'. English purchase and French achat both go back to Latin CAPERE 'to take', through different spoken-Latin verbs.

English relatives: (Italian acquisto) acquire, acquisition; (French achat) capture, captive

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In a sentence

  • esFue una buena compra.
  • frC'était un bon achat.
  • itÈ stato un buon acquisto.
  • ptFoi uma boa compra.
  • roA fost o cumpărătură bună.
  • caVa ser una bona compra.
  • enIt was a good purchase.

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