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"to tie (up)" in seven languages

Meaningto tie (up)

Spanish

atar

/aˈtaɾ/

other source · Latin APTĀRE 'to fit, attach'

Ligar exists but in speech means 'to flirt, pull'.

French

attacher

/ataʃe/

other source · Old French atachier, built on a Germanic word for 'stake'

Lier (from LIGĀRE) is 'to bind, link'; nouer is 'to knot'.

Italian

legare

/leˈgare/

inherited

Portuguese

amarrar

/amaˈhah/

other source · French amarrer (a Dutch nautical word)

Atar (from APTĀRE, like Spanish) is also used.

Romanian

lega

/leˈɡa/

inherited

Catalan

lligar

/ʎiˈɡa/

inherited

Catalan turned initial L- into ll-: LIGĀRE → lligar, LŪNA → lluna.

English

tie

/taɪ/

native English · Old English tīgan

English → Italianto tie (up)legareNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: ligament, ligature, league, obligation.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

LIGĀRE‘to bind’

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

The story

Only Italian ties with LIGĀRE in everyday speech; Spanish 'fits' (atar) and French 'stakes' (attacher). Their relatives ligar and lier drifted to flirting and linking.

English relatives: ligament, ligature, league, obligation

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esAta al perro al árbol.
  • frAttache le chien à l'arbre.
  • itLega il cane all'albero.
  • ptAmarre o cachorro na árvore.
  • roLeagă câinele de copac.
  • caLliga el gos a l'arbre.
  • enTie the dog to the tree.

More words from the same Latin

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words