"street" in seven languages
Meaningstreet
Spanish
/ˈkaʝe/
fem.other source · Latin CALLEM 'footpath, cattle track'
French
/ʁy/
fem.other source · Latin RŪGAM 'wrinkle, furrow'
Italian
/ˈstrada/
fem.inherited
Via is also common, especially in addresses: via Roma.
Portuguese
/ˈhuɐ/
fem.other source · Latin RŪGAM 'wrinkle, furrow' (perhaps via French rue)
Romanian
/ˈstradə/
fem.borrowed · Italian strada
plural: străzi
Catalan
/kəˈre/
masc.other source · Latin CARRĀRIUM '(road) for carts', from CARRUS 'cart'
English
/stɹit/
from Latin/French · Latin STRĀTA (an early loan into Old English)
The Latin ancestor
STRĀTAM (VIAM)‘paved (road)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Three unrelated words, all humble: a cattle track (calle), a furrow or wrinkle (rue), a paved road (strada). English street is STRĀTA, borrowed from Roman roads in Britain.
English relatives: street (an early loan into Old English), stratum, stratify
Learn it
In a sentence
- es¿En qué calle vives?
- frTu habites dans quelle rue ?
- itIn che strada abiti?
- ptEm que rua você mora?
- roPe ce stradă locuiești?
- caA quin carrer vius?
- enWhat street do you live on?