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"traffic (on the roads)" in seven languages

Meaningtraffic (on the roads)

Spanish

tráfico

/ˈtɾafiko/

masc.borrowed · Italian traffico

Latin America often says tránsito.

French

circulation

/siʁkylasjɔ̃/

fem.other source · Latin CIRCULĀTIŌNEM (learned)

Trafic exists, but for volume (le trafic aérien) or illegal trade (trafic de drogue).

Italian

traffico

/ˈtraffiko/

masc.inherited

Also 'trade, dealings', the original sense.

Portuguese

trânsito

/ˈtɾɐ̃zitu/

masc.other source · Latin TRĀNSITUM 'a passing' (learned)

Romanian

trafic

/ˈtrafik/

neut.borrowed · French trafic

Catalan

trànsit

/ˈtɾanzit/

masc.other source · Latin TRĀNSITUM 'a passing' (learned)

English

traffic

/ˈtɹæfɪk/

from Latin/French · Middle French trafique, from Italian traffico

English → Italiantraffic (on the roads)trafficoCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The ancestor

Italian traffico (origin uncertain)‘trade, commerce’

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

The story

An Italian merchants' word for trade that spread across Europe; only later did it come to mean cars on a road. French road traffic is la circulation — things circulating.

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esHay mucho tráfico esta mañana.
  • frIl y a beaucoup de circulation ce matin.
  • itC'è molto traffico stamattina.
  • ptTem muito trânsito hoje de manhã.
  • roE mult trafic în dimineața asta.
  • caHi ha molt trànsit aquest matí.
  • enThere's a lot of traffic this morning.

More in Town & city

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