"stream (small river)" in seven languages
Meaningstream (small river)
Spanish
/aˈroʝo/
masc.other source · probably pre-Roman; Corominas links it to ARRUGIA 'mine gallery' (Pliny)
French
/ʁɥiso/
masc.inherited
plural: ruisseaux
Italian
/ruʃˈʃɛllo/
masc.inherited
Portuguese
/hiˈaʃu/
masc.other source · rio 'river' (Latin RĪVUM) + diminutive -acho
In much of Brazil córrego is just as common.
Romanian
/pɨˈrɨw/
neut.other source · pre-Latin substrate word (compare Albanian përrua)
plural: pâraie
Catalan
/riəˈɾɔl/
masc.other source · riera 'stream' (Latin RĪVĀRIA) + diminutive -ol
English
/stɹim/
native English · Old English strēam
The Latin ancestor
*RĪVUSCELLUM‘little stream (diminutive of RĪVUS)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
French and Italian both shrank RĪVUS 'brook' with a double diminutive. A rival was originally someone using the same stream.
English relatives: rivulet, rival (people sharing a stream)
Learn it
In a sentence
- esDetrás de la casa corre un arroyo.
- frUn ruisseau coule derrière la maison.
- itDietro la casa scorre un ruscello.
- ptUm riacho corre atrás da casa.
- roÎn spatele casei curge un pârâu.
- caDarrere de la casa hi passa un rierol.
- enA stream runs behind the house.