"to boil" in seven languages
Meaningto boil
Spanish
hervir
/eɾˈbiɾ/
other source · Latin FERVĒRE 'to be hot, seethe'
Stem-changing: hierve, hirviendo.
French
bouillir
/bujiʁ/
inherited
Irregular: l'eau bout.
Italian
bollire
/bolˈlire/
inherited
Portuguese
ferver
/feɾˈveh/
other source · Latin FERVĒRE 'to be hot, seethe'
Romanian
fierbe
/ˈfjerbe/
other source · Latin FERVERE 'to be hot, seethe'
Catalan
bullir
/buˈʎi/
inherited
English
boil
/bɔɪl/
from Latin/French · Old French boillir, Latin BULLĪRE
English → Italianto boilbollireCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
BULLĪRE‘to bubble’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Two Latin verbs split the pot: BULLĪRE 'to bubble' (bouillir, bollire, bullir, English boil) and FERVĒRE 'to seethe' (hervir, ferver, fierbe), where Spanish shows its silent h for F-.
English relatives: bullion, ebullient; fervent (from FERVĒRE)
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEl agua está hirviendo.
- frL'eau bout.
- itL'acqua bolle.
- ptA água está fervendo.
- roApa fierbe.
- caL'aigua bull.
- enThe water is boiling.