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"radio" in seven languages

Meaningradio

Spanish

radio

/ˈradjo/

fem.learned

Feminine in Spain; much of Latin America says el radio for the set.

French

radio

/ʁadjo/

fem.learned

Also an X-ray: passer une radio.

Italian

radio

/ˈradjo/

fem.learned

plural: radio

Portuguese

rádio

/ˈhadʒju/

masc.learned

Romanian

radio

/ˈradio/

neut.borrowed · French radio

Catalan

ràdio

/ˈradiu/

fem.learned

English

radio

/ˈɹeɪdioʊ/

from Latin/French · short for radiotelegraphy, from Latin RADIUS

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

The Latin ancestor

RADIUM (nom. RADIUS)‘a ray, a spoke of a wheel’

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

The story

A 20th-century international word cut down from radiotelegraphy, 'writing far away with rays'. The clipping keeps the feminine of the full word in all three sisters.

English relatives: ray, radius, radiation, radiant

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esEscucho la radio en el coche.
  • frJ'écoute la radio dans la voiture.
  • itAscolto la radio in macchina.
  • ptEu ouço rádio no carro.
  • roAscult radioul în mașină.
  • caEscolto la ràdio al cotxe.
  • enI listen to the radio in the car.

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