"vegetables" in seven languages
Meaningvegetables
Spanish
/beɾˈduɾa/
fem.inherited
Derived from verde 'green'; often plural: las verduras.
French
/legym/
masc.other source · learned, from Latin LEGŪMEN 'pulse, bean'
Italian
/verˈdura/
fem.inherited
Usually a collective singular: mangiare la verdura.
Portuguese
/veɾˈduɾɐ/
fem.inherited
In Brazil verduras are leafy greens; other vegetables are legumes.
Romanian
/leˈgumə/
fem.other source · French légume (Latin LEGŪMEN 'pulse')
plural: legume
Mostly used in the plural: legume.
Catalan
/bərˈduɾə/
fem.inherited
English
/ˈvɛdʒtəbəlz/
other source · Old French vegetable (Medieval Latin vegetābilis)
The Latin ancestor
VIRIDEM‘green’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spanish and Italian call vegetables 'greenery'; French chose a book word for beans and peas and widened it to all vegetables.
English relatives: verdant, verdure; legume (LEGŪMEN)
Learn it
In a sentence
- es¡Cómete la verdura!
- frMange tes légumes !
- itMangia la verdura!
- ptComa a verdura!
- roMănâncă-ți legumele!
- caMenja't la verdura!
- enEat your vegetables!