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"wall" in seven languages

Meaningwall

Spanish

pared

/paˈɾed/

fem.other source · Latin PARIETEM 'wall (of a house)'

Muro is an outer or free-standing wall.

French

mur

/myʁ/

masc.inherited

Italian

muro

/ˈmuro/

masc.inherited

plural: muri; le mura (city walls)

Inside a room Italian says la parete, Spanish pared's cognate.

Portuguese

parede

/paˈɾedʒi/

fem.other source · Latin PARIETEM 'wall (of a house)'

Romanian

perete

/peˈrete/

masc.other source · Latin PARIETEM 'wall (of a house)' (inherited)

Catalan

paret

/pəˈɾɛt/

fem.other source · Latin PARIETEM 'wall (of a house)'

English

wall

/wɔl/

other source · Old English weall (an early loan from Latin VALLUM 'rampart')

English → ItalianwallmuroNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: mural, immure; parietal (PARIETEM).What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

MŪRUM‘wall, city wall’

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

The story

Latin had two walls: MŪRUS for defensive walls and PARIES for the walls of a house. Spanish and Italian keep both; French made mur do all the work, with long Ū fronted to y.

English relatives: mural, immure; parietal (PARIETEM)

Sound laws at work

French fronts long U to [y]

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In a sentence

  • esHay un cuadro en la pared.
  • frIl y a un tableau au mur.
  • itC'è un quadro sulla parete.
  • ptTem um quadro na parede.
  • roPe perete e un tablou.
  • caHi ha un quadre a la paret.
  • enThere's a painting on the wall.

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