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"to celebrate" in seven languages

Meaningto celebrate

Spanish

celebrar

/θeleˈbɾaɾ/

learned

French

célébrer

/selebʁe/

learned

For birthdays and parties, fêter is more everyday.

Italian

celebrare

/tʃeleˈbrare/

learned

For birthdays and parties, festeggiare is more everyday.

Portuguese

comemorar

/komemoˈɾah/

other source · Latin COMMEMORĀRE 'to call to mind'

Celebrar exists too, but Brazilians comemoram birthdays, goals and anniversaries.

Romanian

sărbători

/sərbətoˈri/

other source · Romanian sărbătoare 'feast day', from Latin SERVĀTŌRIA '(days) kept'

Catalan

celebrar

/sələˈbɾa/

learned

English

celebrate

/ˈsɛləbɹeɪt/

from Latin/French · Latin CELEBRĀRE

English → Italianto celebratecelebrareCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

CELEBRĀRE‘to throng, to honour (from CELEBER 'crowded')’

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

The story

CELEBER meant 'crowded': to celebrate was to throng a place in someone's honour. Learned everywhere, yet the soft c still splits three ways: θ, s, tʃ.

English relatives: celebration, celebrity, celebrated

Sound laws at work

C before E and I

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esCelebramos nuestro aniversario.
  • frNous célébrons notre anniversaire de mariage.
  • itCelebriamo il nostro anniversario.
  • ptEstamos comemorando nosso aniversário de casamento.
  • roNe sărbătorim aniversarea.
  • caCelebrem el nostre aniversari.
  • enWe're celebrating our anniversary.

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words