Skip to content

"to sew" in seven languages

Meaningto sew

Spanish

coser

/koˈseɾ/

inherited

Do not confuse with cocer 'to cook' (from COQUERE), a homophone in seseo areas.

French

coudre

/kudʁ/

inherited

A d grew between s (later lost) and r: *cosre → coudre. Present: je couds, nous cousons.

Italian

cucire

/kuˈtʃire/

inherited

The c, where the others have s, is irregular.

Portuguese

costurar

/kostuˈɾah/

inherited

From costura 'seam' (*CONSŪTŪRA); coser also exists, but costurar is the everyday verb in Brazil.

Romanian

coase

/ˈko̯ase/

inherited

Catalan

cosir

/kuˈzi/

inherited

English

sew

/soʊ/

Indo-European kin · PIE *syuh₁-

English → Italianto sewcucireDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: suture.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

CONSUERE‘to sew together (spoken *COSERE)’

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

The story

CONSUERE lost its n early, as Latin NS often did (MĒNSAM → mesa), giving spoken *COSERE. English sew and suture are Indo-European cousins.

English relatives: suture

Learn it

Practice the Core verbs deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • esMi abuela se cose la ropa.
  • frMa grand-mère coud ses vêtements elle-même.
  • itMia nonna si cuce i vestiti da sola.
  • ptMinha avó costura as próprias roupas.
  • roBunica își coase singură hainele.
  • caLa meva àvia es cus la roba ella mateixa.
  • enMy grandmother sews her own clothes.

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words