"to catch" in seven languages
Meaningto catch
Spanish
/atɾaˈpaɾ/
borrowed · French attraper
In Spain also coger, avoided in much of Latin America.
French
/atʁape/
inherited
Italian
/ˈprɛndere/
other source · Latin PREHENDERE 'to seize'
Also acchiappare, more colloquial.
Portuguese
/peˈɡah/
other source · Latin PICĀRE 'to coat with pitch'
In Brazil pegar is the all-purpose 'grab, catch, take'.
Romanian
/ˈprinde/
other source · Latin PREHENDERE 'to seize'
Catalan
/əɡəˈfa/
other source · of uncertain origin
English
/kætʃ/
other source · Anglo-Norman cachier, from Vulgar Latin *CAPTIĀRE 'to hunt'
Watch out: false friends
pegar (Spanish) means “to hit; to stick, glue” · pegar (Portuguese) means “to take, grab; to catch (a bus, a cold)”
Both from Latin PICĀRE 'to coat with pitch', hence 'to stick'. Spanish went on to 'strike' (a blow that lands); Portuguese to 'take hold of' — pegar o ônibus is 'catch the bus'.
The ancestor
Frankish *trappa‘trap’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
French attraper is 'to get into the trap' (trappe); Spanish borrowed it. English catch is the Norman twin of chase, both from *CAPTIĀRE 'to hunt' — Spanish cazar, Italian cacciare.
English relatives: trap (a Germanic cousin)
Learn it
In a sentence
- es¡Atrapa la pelota!
- frAttrape la balle !
- itPrendi la palla!
- ptPega a bola!
- roPrinde mingea!
- caAgafa la pilota!
- enCatch the ball!
More words from the same Latin
More in Core verbs
- to establishestablecerétablirstabilireestabelecerstabiliestablir
- to grow (get bigger)crecergrandircrescerecrescercreștecréixer
- to noticenotarremarquernotarenotarobservanotar
- to sit downsentarses'asseoirsedersisentar-sese așezaseure
- to associateasociarassocierassociareassociarasociaassociar
- to explainexplicarexpliquerspiegareexplicarexplicaexplicar