"rock" in seven languages
Meaningrock
Spanish
roca
/ˈroka/
fem.inherited
French
roche
/ʁɔʃ/
fem.inherited
A single big rock or crag is un rocher.
Italian
roccia
/ˈrɔttʃa/
fem.inherited
Portuguese
rocha
/ˈhɔʃɐ/
fem.borrowed · French roche
Romanian
rocă
/ˈrokə/
fem.borrowed · French roche
Catalan
roca
/ˈrɔkə/
fem.inherited
English
rock
/ɹɑk/
from Latin/French · Old French roque, Medieval Latin rocca
English → ItalianrockrocciaCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
*ROCCAM‘rock, crag (not Classical Latin; origin unknown, probably pre-Roman)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
A word with no Classical pedigree that spread across the Romance world. French turned its -ca into -che, as in VACCA → vache.
English relatives: rocky, rococo (via French rocaille)
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEl granito es una roca muy dura.
- frLe granit est une roche très dure.
- itIl granito è una roccia molto dura.
- ptO granito é uma rocha muito dura.
- roGranitul este o rocă foarte dură.
- caEl granit és una roca molt dura.
- enGranite is a very hard rock.