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"tight (of clothes)" in seven languages

Meaningtight (of clothes)

Spanish

apretado

/apɾeˈtado/

other source · Spanish apretar, from Late Latin APPECTORĀRE 'to press to the chest'

French

serré

/seʁe/

other source · French serrer, from Vulgar Latin *SERRĀRE (Latin SERA 'bolt')

Italian

stretto

/ˈstretto/

inherited

Also 'narrow': una strada stretta.

Portuguese

apertado

/apehˈtadu/

other source · Portuguese apertar, from Late Latin APPECTORĀRE 'to press to the chest'

Romanian

strâmt

/strɨmt/

inherited

From a spoken *STRINCTUM, STRICTUM with the n of STRINGERE; also 'narrow'.

Catalan

estret

/əsˈtɾet/

inherited

Also 'narrow': un carrer estret.

English

tight

/taɪt/

other source · Old Norse þéttr 'dense'

English → Italiantight (of clothes)strettoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: strict, constrict, restrict, strait.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

STRICTUM‘drawn tight’

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

The story

STRICTUM survives in all three, but only Italian uses it for tight clothes; Spanish estrecho and French étroit mean 'narrow'. Spanish says 'pressed to the chest', French 'bolted'.

English relatives: strict, constrict, restrict, strait

Sound laws at work

CTS + consonant at the start of a word

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In a sentence

  • esEste pantalón me queda demasiado apretado.
  • frCe pantalon est trop serré.
  • itQuesti pantaloni sono troppo stretti.
  • ptEsta calça está apertada demais.
  • roPantalonii ăștia sunt prea strâmți.
  • caAquests pantalons em van massa estrets.
  • enThese trousers are too tight.

More words from the same Latin

More in Describing words

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