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"transportation" in seven languages

Meaningtransportation

Spanish

transporte

/tɾansˈpoɾte/

masc.learned

French

transport

/tʁɑ̃spɔʁ/

masc.learned

Public transportation is plural: les transports en commun.

Italian

trasporto

/trasˈpɔrto/

masc.learned

Portuguese

transporte

/tɾɐ̃sˈpɔhtʃi/

masc.learned

Romanian

transport

/transˈport/

neut.borrowed · French transport

Catalan

transport

/tɾənsˈpɔɾt/

masc.learned

English

transportation

/tɹænspɚˈteɪʃən/

from Latin/French · Latin TRANSPORTĀRE, via French transporter

British English usually says transport.

English → ItaliantransportationtrasportoCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

TRANSPORTĀRE‘to carry across’

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

The story

TRANS 'across' + PORTĀRE 'to carry'. Italian simplifies the prefix to tras-, as in trasferire 'to transfer'.

English relatives: transport, port, portable, import, export

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In a sentence

  • esAquí el transporte público es barato.
  • frIci, les transports en commun ne sont pas chers.
  • itQui il trasporto pubblico costa poco.
  • ptAqui o transporte público é barato.
  • roAici transportul în comun e ieftin.
  • caAquí el transport públic és barat.
  • enPublic transportation is cheap here.

The Latin family

PORT-· carry

PORTĀRE is the ordinary 'carry' of French (porter) and Italian (portare); Spanish prefers llevar (LEVĀRE 'to lift') and keeps portar for 'to bear' and portarse 'to behave'. Its prefixed forms travelled widely as learned words — and one of them, via Old French, became English sport. Romanian purta and Catalan portar are everyday 'carry' verbs; Portuguese, like Spanish, carries with levar.

  • PORTĀREto carry

    esportarfrporteritportareptportarropurtacaportar

  • IMPORTĀREto carry in

    esimportarfrimporteritimportareptimportarroimportacaimportarenimport

  • SUPPORTĀREto carry up, bear

    essoportarfrsupporteritsopportareptsuportarrosuportacasuportarensupport

  • TRANSPORTĀREto carry across

    estransportarfrtransporterittrasportarepttransportarrotransportacatransportarentransport

  • DĒPORTĀREto carry away

    esdeportefrdéporteritdiportoptesporterosportcaesport

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