"to buy" in seven languages
Meaningto buy
Spanish
comprar
/komˈpɾaɾ/
inherited
French
acheter
/aʃte/
other source · spoken Latin *ACCAPTĀRE 'to acquire', from CAPTĀRE 'to try to catch'
Italian
comprare
/komˈprare/
inherited
Portuguese
comprar
/kõˈpɾah/
inherited
Romanian
cumpăra
/kumpəˈra/
inherited
Catalan
comprar
/kumˈpɾa/
inherited
English
buy
/baɪ/
native English · Old English bycgan
English → Italianto buycomprareNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: prepare, apparatus (PARĀRE); capture, catch (CAPTĀRE).What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
COMPARĀRE‘to procure, get together’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spanish and Italian buy by 'procuring' (COMPARĀRE, built on PARĀRE 'to get ready'); French buys by catching, with CA- → cha- inside acheter.
English relatives: prepare, apparatus (PARĀRE); capture, catch (CAPTĀRE)
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esCompro pan.
- frJ'achète du pain.
- itCompro il pane.
- ptEstou comprando pão.
- roCumpăr pâine.
- caCompro pa.
- enI'm buying bread.
More words from the same Latin
More in Core verbs
- to play (a game)jugarjouergiocarejogarjucajugar
- to runcorrercourircorrerecorreralergacórrer
- to finish, to endterminarfinirfinireterminarterminaacabar
- to diemorirmourirmoriremorrermurimorir
- to thinkpensarpenserpensarepensargândipensar
- to neednecesitaravoir besoin (de)avere bisogno (di)precisaravea nevoie (de)necessitar