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"to pray" in seven languages

Meaningto pray

Spanish

rezar

/reˈθaɾ/

other source · Latin RECITĀRE 'to read aloud, recite'

Orar, from ŌRĀRE, is the formal word.

French

prier

/pʁije/

inherited

Also 'to ask, beg': je vous en prie.

Italian

pregare

/preˈɡare/

inherited

Also 'to ask, beg': ti prego.

Portuguese

rezar

/heˈzah/

other source · Latin RECITĀRE 'to read aloud, recite'

Romanian

se ruga

/se ruˈɡa/

other source · Latin ROGĀRE 'to ask'

Catalan

resar

/rəˈza/

other source · Latin RECITĀRE 'to read aloud, recite'

English

pray

/pɹeɪ/

from Latin/French · Old French preier

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

The Latin ancestor

PRECĀRĪ‘to beg, pray’

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

The story

Italian voiced the c (pregare), French dropped it entirely (prier). Spanish rezar comes from RECITĀRE: praying as reciting. Precarious first meant 'obtained by begging'.

English relatives: prayer, precarious, imprecation

Sound laws at work

Voiceless stops between vowels soften

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In a sentence

  • esReza todas las noches.
  • frElle prie tous les soirs.
  • itPrega ogni sera.
  • ptEla reza toda noite.
  • roSe roagă în fiecare seară.
  • caResa cada nit.
  • enShe prays every night.

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words