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"school" in seven languages

Meaningschool

Spanish

escuela

/esˈkwela/

fem.inherited

French

école

/ekɔl/

fem.learned

Semi-learned: Old French escole never developed the eu a popular word would have.

Italian

scuola

/ˈskwɔla/

fem.inherited

Portuguese

escola

/esˈkɔlɐ/

fem.inherited

Romanian

școală

/ˈʃko̯alə/

fem.borrowed · Old Church Slavonic škola (from Latin)

Catalan

escola

/əsˈkɔlə/

fem.inherited

English

school

/skul/

from Latin/French · Latin schola (Old English scōl)

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

The Latin ancestor

SCHOLAM‘leisure; lecture, school (from Greek scholḗ)’

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

The story

Greek scholḗ meant 'leisure' — what you did with free time was discuss and learn. Spanish and French prop up the initial sc- with a vowel (escuela, école, French later losing the s); Spanish and Italian split the stressed o into ue / uo.

English relatives: school, scholar, scholastic

Sound laws at work

S + consonant at the start of a wordStressed short O breaks into ue / uo / eu

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esLos niños están en la escuela.
  • frLes enfants sont à l'école.
  • itI bambini sono a scuola.
  • ptAs crianças estão na escola.
  • roCopiii sunt la școală.
  • caEls nens són a l'escola.
  • enThe children are at school.

More in School & learning

All School & learning words