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"step (pace)" in seven languages

Meaningstep (pace)

Spanish

paso

/ˈpaso/

masc.inherited

French

pas

/pa/

masc.inherited

The same word became the negation ne … pas: 'not (even) a step'.

Italian

passo

/ˈpasso/

masc.inherited

Portuguese

passo

/ˈpasu/

masc.inherited

Romanian

pas

/pas/

masc.inherited

plural: pași

Catalan

pas

/pas/

masc.inherited

English

step

/stɛp/

native English · Old English stæpe

English → Italianstep (pace)passoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: pace, pass, passage, passport.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

PASSUM‘step, pace (the stretch of the legs)’

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

The story

Italian keeps Latin's double s; Spanish simplified it and French dropped the whole ending. French ne … pas began as emphasis — 'I won't walk a step' — and spread to every verb.

English relatives: pace, pass, passage, passport

Sound laws at work

Final vowels

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In a sentence

  • esDa un paso adelante.
  • frFais un pas en avant.
  • itFai un passo avanti.
  • ptDê um passo à frente.
  • roFă un pas înainte.
  • caFes un pas endavant.
  • enTake one step forward.

More words from the same Latin

More in Travel

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