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"to spin (thread)" in seven languages

Meaningto spin (thread)

Spanish

hilar

/iˈlaɾ/

inherited

French

filer

/file/

inherited

Also colloquial 'to run off' and 'to hand over' (file-moi ça).

Italian

filare

/fiˈlare/

inherited

Portuguese

fiar

/fiˈah/

inherited

Portuguese lost the intervocalic -L- of FĪLĀRE, as in LUNA → lua.

Romanian

toarce

/ˈto̯artʃe/

other source · Latin TORQUĒRE 'to twist'

Catalan

filar

/fiˈla/

inherited

English

spin

/spɪn/

native English · Old English spinnan

English → Italianto spin (thread)filareNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: file (a row), filament, fillet.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

FĪLĀRE‘to spin thread (FĪLUM 'thread')’

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

The story

All three spin from FĪLUM 'thread'. Spanish turned the initial F into a silent h (hilar, hilo), while French and Italian kept it; the same split gives hijo / fils / figlio.

English relatives: file (a row), filament, fillet

Sound laws at work

Spanish initial F- becomes h- (silent)

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esMi abuela hilaba la lana a mano.
  • frMa grand-mère filait la laine à la main.
  • itMia nonna filava la lana a mano.
  • ptMinha avó fiava lã à mão.
  • roBunica mea torcea lâna de mână.
  • caLa meva àvia filava la llana a mà.
  • enMy grandmother spun wool by hand.

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words