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"screen" in seven languages

Meaningscreen

Spanish

pantalla

/panˈtaʝa/

fem.other source · of uncertain origin

French

écran

/ekʁɑ̃/

masc.borrowed · Middle Dutch scherm

Italian

schermo

/ˈskermo/

masc.inherited

lo schermo · A Lombard word; scherma 'fencing' comes from the same 'shield' root.

Portuguese

tela

/ˈtɛlɐ/

fem.other source · Latin TĒLAM 'web, cloth'

European Portuguese says ecrã, from French écran.

Romanian

ecran

/eˈkran/

neut.borrowed · French écran

Catalan

pantalla

/pənˈtaʎə/

fem.other source · of uncertain origin

English

screen

/skɹin/

from Latin/French · Old North French escren, from Middle Dutch scherm

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

The ancestor

Germanic *skerm-‘shield, cover’

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

The story

French and Italian (and English) all screen you with an old Germanic word for a shield: a fire screen came long before a TV screen. Spanish pantalla is a different word.

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In a sentence

  • esSe me ha roto la pantalla del móvil.
  • frL'écran de mon téléphone est cassé.
  • itLo schermo del mio telefono è rotto.
  • ptA tela do meu celular quebrou.
  • roMi s-a spart ecranul telefonului.
  • caSe m'ha trencat la pantalla del mòbil.
  • enMy phone screen is broken.

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