"suitcase" in seven languages
Meaningsuitcase
Spanish
/maˈleta/
fem.borrowed · French malle 'trunk' + diminutive -eta
French
/valiz/
fem.other source · Italian valigia (of unknown origin)
Italian
/vaˈlidʒa/
fem.other source · of unknown origin
Portuguese
/ˈmalɐ/
fem.borrowed · French malle 'trunk'
Romanian
/vaˈlizə/
fem.other source · French valise (from Italian valigia, of unknown origin)
Catalan
/məˈlɛtə/
fem.borrowed · French malle 'trunk' + diminutive -eta
English
/ˈsutkeɪs/
other source · suit (Anglo-Norman suite) + case (Old North French casse, Latin CAPSAM)
The ancestor
Frankish *malha‘bag, pouch (Old French male)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spain packs a 'little trunk' from a Frankish bag-word, which is also English mail. French valise comes from Italian valigia, whose own origin nobody knows.
English relatives: mail (first a bag of letters)
Learn it
In a sentence
- esTodavía no he hecho la maleta.
- frJe n'ai pas encore fait ma valise.
- itNon ho ancora fatto la valigia.
- ptAinda não fiz a mala.
- roÎncă nu mi-am făcut valiza.
- caEncara no he fet la maleta.
- enI haven't packed my suitcase yet.