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"sword" in seven languages

Meaningsword

Spanish

espada

/esˈpada/

fem.inherited

French

épée

/epe/

fem.inherited

Italian

spada

/ˈspada/

fem.inherited

Portuguese

espada

/isˈpadɐ/

fem.inherited

Romanian

spadă

/ˈspadə/

fem.borrowed · Italian spada

The everyday sabie 'sabre' comes from Hungarian szablya.

Catalan

espasa

/əsˈpazə/

fem.inherited

English

sword

/sɔɹd/

native English · Old English sweord

English → ItalianswordspadaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: spatula.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

SPATHAM‘broad two-edged sword (Greek spáthē)’

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

The story

Spanish added e- before s + consonant (espada); French did too, then lost the s and the t (épée). Italian kept spada untouched. Spanish espalda and French épaule 'shoulder' come from the diminutive SPATULA, 'shoulder blade'.

English relatives: spatula

Sound laws at work

S + consonant at the start of a wordVoiceless stops between vowels soften

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esEl caballero desenvainó la espada.
  • frLe chevalier a tiré son épée.
  • itIl cavaliere sguainò la spada.
  • ptO cavaleiro desembainhou a espada.
  • roCavalerul și-a scos spada.
  • caEl cavaller va desembeinar l'espasa.
  • enThe knight drew his sword.

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