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"to fly" in seven languages

Meaningto fly

Spanish

volar

/boˈlaɾ/

inherited

Stressed o diphthongs: vuelo, vuelas.

French

voler

/vɔle/

inherited

Also 'to steal', a sense that grew out of falconry.

Italian

volare

/voˈlare/

inherited

Portuguese

voar

/voˈah/

inherited

Romanian

zbura

/zbuˈra/

other source · probably Latin *EXVOLĀRE 'to fly out' (DEX); disputed

Catalan

volar

/buˈla/

inherited

English

fly

/flaɪ/

native English · Old English flēogan

English → Italianto flyvolareNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: volatile, volley.What English and Italian share

Watch out: false friends

  • voler (Catalan) means “to want” · voler (French) means “to fly; to steal”

    Coincidence. Catalan voler is spoken Latin *VOLĒRE (for VELLE 'to want'), the source of French vouloir; French voler is VOLĀRE 'to fly', and 'to steal' came from the falconer's bird flying off with its prey.

All false friends

The Latin ancestor

VOLĀRE‘to fly’

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

The story

Portuguese voar lost the l between vowels (as in fio 'thread'), and Romanian zbura, probably from *EXVOLĀRE 'to fly out', turned it into r. French voler also means 'to steal', from the falcon 'flying off' with its prey.

English relatives: volatile, volley

Sound laws at work

Single L between vowels: lost in Portuguese, r in RomanianStressed short O breaks into ue / uo / euB and V merge in Spanish

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esEn invierno los pájaros vuelan hacia el sur.
  • frEn hiver, les oiseaux volent vers le sud.
  • itD'inverno gli uccelli volano verso sud.
  • ptNo inverno, os pássaros voam para o sul.
  • roIarna, păsările zboară spre sud.
  • caA l'hivern, els ocells volen cap al sud.
  • enBirds fly south in winter.

More words from the same Latin

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words