"queue, line (of people)" in seven languages
Meaningqueue, line (of people)
Spanish
/ˈkola/
fem.inherited
Also 'tail'; hacer cola 'to queue'. The l in place of d is not fully explained.
French
/fil/
fem.other source · filer 'to spin; to go in a line', from Latin FĪLUM 'thread'
In full file d'attente; la queue is the tail — and also a queue, informally.
Italian
/ˈfila/
fem.other source · Latin FĪLUM 'thread'
Fare la fila; also fare la coda, the 'tail' again.
Portuguese
/ˈfilɐ/
fem.other source · Latin FĪLUM 'thread'
Bicha in Portugal, a word to avoid in Brazil.
Romanian
/ˈko̯adə/
fem.inherited
Also 'tail': a sta la coadă 'to stand in line'.
Catalan
/ˈkuə/
fem.inherited
Also 'tail': fer cua 'to queue'.
English
/kju/
from Latin/French · French queue 'tail' (Latin CŌDAM)
American English says line.
The Latin ancestor
CŌDAM (classical CAUDAM)‘tail’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Half the sisters queue in a 'tail' (cola, coadă, cua, and Italian coda), the other half in a 'line of thread' (file, fila). English took the French tail, queue, for the line itself; coward is a 'tail-tucker' from the same word.
English relatives: queue, coda, coward
Sound laws at work
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In a sentence
- esHay mucha cola en la panadería.
- frIl y a une longue file d'attente à la boulangerie.
- itC'è una lunga fila in panetteria.
- ptTem uma fila enorme na padaria.
- roE o coadă lungă la brutărie.
- caHi ha molta cua a la fleca.
- enThere's a long queue at the bakery.