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"railway, railroad" in seven languages

Meaningrailway, railroad

Spanish

ferrocarril

/ferokaˈril/

masc.learned

Ferro- is the learned form of the root; the everyday word for iron is inherited hierro.

French

chemin de fer

/ʃəmɛ̃ də fɛʁ/

masc.inherited

Chemin 'road' is of Gaulish origin; fer is the inherited heir of FERRUM.

Italian

ferrovia

/ferroˈvia/

fem.inherited

Portuguese

estrada de ferro

/isˈtɾadɐ dʒi ˈfɛhu/

fem.inherited

Literally 'road of iron', like French chemin de fer; ferrovia is just as common.

Romanian

cale ferată

/ˈkale feˈratə/

fem.inherited

'Ironed way': ferată is built on fier, from FERRUM.

Catalan

ferrocarril

/fərukəˈril/

masc.learned

English

railway

/ˈɹeɪlweɪ/

native English · English compound: rail (Old French reille) + way (Old English weg)

American English prefers railroad.

English → Italianrailway, railroadferroviaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: ferrous, ferric, farrier.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

FERRUM‘iron’

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

The story

All three name the railway after iron: Spanish 'iron rail', French 'road of iron', Italian 'iron way'. English chose rail instead, a French word from REGULA 'straight stick'.

English relatives: ferrous, ferric, farrier

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In a sentence

  • esEl ferrocarril cruza el valle.
  • frLe chemin de fer traverse la vallée.
  • itLa ferrovia attraversa la valle.
  • ptA estrada de ferro atravessa o vale.
  • roCalea ferată traversează valea.
  • caEl ferrocarril travessa la vall.
  • enThe railway crosses the valley.

More words from the same Latin

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