"traffic light" in seven languages
Meaningtraffic light
Spanish
/seˈmafoɾo/
masc.borrowed · French sémaphore
French
/fø/
masc.other source · Latin FOCUM 'hearth, fire'
plural: feux
Also feu rouge, feu tricolore.
Italian
/seˈmaforo/
masc.borrowed · French sémaphore
Portuguese
/seˈmafoɾu/
masc.borrowed · French sémaphore
Romanian
/semaˈfor/
neut.borrowed · French sémaphore
plural: semafoare
Catalan
/səˈmafuɾ/
masc.borrowed · French sémaphore
English
/ˈtɹæfɪk laɪt/
other source · traffic (Italian traffico) + native light
The ancestor
Greek sêma + -phóros‘sign-bearer (French sémaphore, a railway signal)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spanish and Italian adopted a learned railway word, the 'sign-bearer'; French simply says 'the fire' — and turns left at the second feu.
English relatives: semaphore, semantic
Learn it
In a sentence
- esGira a la derecha en el semáforo.
- frTourne à droite au feu.
- itGira a destra al semaforo.
- ptVire à direita no semáforo.
- roLa semafor fă la dreapta.
- caAl semàfor, gira a la dreta.
- enTurn right at the traffic lights.