"under" in seven languages
Meaningunder
Spanish
bajo
/ˈbaxo/
other source · Late Latin BASSUM 'low'
In everyday speech: debajo de.
French
sous
/su/
inherited
Italian
sotto
/ˈsotto/
inherited
Portuguese
embaixo de
/ẽˈbajʃu dʒi/
other source · Late Latin BASSUM 'low' (em + baixo)
The Latin-derived sob exists but is formal.
Romanian
sub
/sub/
other source · Latin SUB 'under'
Catalan
sota
/ˈsotə/
inherited
English
under
/ˈʌndɚ/
native English · Old English under
English → ItalianundersottoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: subtle, sub-.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
SUBTUS‘beneath, underneath’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
French and Italian use SUBTUS (Italian assimilating bt to tt); Spanish replaced it with 'low', bajo. Old Spanish so 'under' lingers in so pena de 'under penalty of'.
English relatives: subtle, sub-
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEl gato está debajo de la cama.
- frLe chat est sous le lit.
- itIl gatto è sotto il letto.
- ptO gato está embaixo da cama.
- roPisica e sub pat.
- caEl gat és sota el llit.
- enThe cat is under the bed.