"sauce" in seven languages
Meaningsauce
Spanish
/ˈsalsa/
fem.inherited
French
/sos/
fem.inherited
Italian
/ˈsalsa/
fem.inherited
A pasta sauce is usually il sugo.
Portuguese
/ˈmoʎu/
masc.other source · molhar 'to wet', from Latin *MOLLIĀRE 'to soften'
Romanian
/sos/
neut.borrowed · French sauce
Catalan
/ˈsalsə/
fem.inherited
English
/sɔs/
from Latin/French · Old French sauce
Watch out: false friends
salsa (Portuguese) means “parsley (Brazil: salsinha)” · salsa (Spanish) means “sauce”
Spanish salsa is Latin SALSAM 'salted (thing)', hence a seasoning, a sauce. Portuguese salsa 'parsley' is usually given the same source, though how 'salted' became the herb is unclear. Portuguese sauce is molho.
The Latin ancestor
SALSAM‘salted (thing)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
A sauce was something 'salted'. French turned the l of SALSA into u (sauce, as in autre), so English sauce and salsa are one word. Portuguese molho is a 'wetting', and Romanian sos came from French.
English relatives: salsa, saucer, sausage, salt
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEsta salsa pica mucho.
- frCette sauce est très épicée.
- itQuesta salsa è molto piccante.
- ptEsse molho é muito apimentado.
- roSosul ăsta e foarte iute.
- caAquesta salsa pica molt.
- enThis sauce is very spicy.