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"tail" in seven languages

Meaningtail

Spanish

cola

/ˈkola/

fem.inherited

Also a queue (hacer cola); cola 'glue' is a different word.

French

queue

/kø/

fem.inherited

Also a queue: faire la queue.

Italian

coda

/ˈkoda/

fem.inherited

Also a queue: fare la coda.

Portuguese

rabo

/ˈhabu/

masc.other source · Latin RAPUM 'turnip'

Cauda, from CAUDAM, is the formal and zoological word.

Romanian

coadă

/ˈko̯adə/

fem.inherited

Catalan

cua

/ˈkuə/

fem.inherited

Catalan lost the intervocalic D of spoken CŌDA.

English

tail

/teɪl/

native English · Old English tægl

English → ItaliantailcodaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: coda, queue, caudal.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

CAUDAM (spoken CŌDAM)‘tail’

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

The story

Spoken Latin said CŌDA for classical CAUDA. Italian kept coda, French wore it down to queue, Spanish turned it into cola — and English borrowed both coda and queue.

English relatives: coda, queue, caudal

Sound laws at work

AU becomes o

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esEl perro mueve la cola.
  • frLe chien remue la queue.
  • itIl cane muove la coda.
  • ptO cachorro está abanando o rabo.
  • roCâinele dă din coadă.
  • caEl gos mou la cua.
  • enThe dog is wagging its tail.

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