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"source" in seven languages

Meaningsource

Spanish

fuente

/ˈfwente/

fem.inherited

Also a fountain and a serving dish.

French

source

/suʁs/

fem.other source · Old French sorse, past participle of sourdre (Latin SURGERE 'to rise')

Italian

fonte

/ˈfonte/

fem.inherited

Portuguese

fonte

/ˈfõtʃi/

fem.inherited

Romanian

sursă

/ˈsursə/

fem.other source · French source (Old French sorse, from Latin SURGERE 'to rise')

Catalan

font

/fɔn/

fem.inherited

English

source

/sɔɹs/

other source · Old French sorse (from sourdre, Latin SURGERE 'to rise')

English → ItaliansourcefonteNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: fountain, font.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

FONTEM‘spring, fountain’

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

The story

In Spanish and Italian a source is a spring (FONTEM, as in fountain). French uses water 'rising up' instead (sourdre ← SURGERE, the root of surge), and that is the word English borrowed.

English relatives: fountain, font

Sound laws at work

Stressed short O breaks into ue / uo / eu

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In a sentence

  • es¿Cuál es la fuente de esta información?
  • frQuelle est la source de cette information ?
  • itQual è la fonte di questa informazione?
  • ptQual é a fonte dessa informação?
  • roCare este sursa acestei informații?
  • caQuina és la font d'aquesta informació?
  • enWhat's the source of this information?

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