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"wealth" in seven languages

Meaningwealth

Spanish

riqueza

/riˈkeθa/

fem.inherited

French

richesse

/ʁiʃɛs/

fem.inherited

Italian

ricchezza

/rikˈkettsa/

fem.inherited

Portuguese

riqueza

/hiˈkezɐ/

fem.inherited

Romanian

bogăție

/boɡəˈtsie/

fem.other source · Romanian bogat 'rich', from Slavic bogatŭ

Catalan

riquesa

/riˈkɛzə/

fem.inherited

English

wealth

/wɛlθ/

native English · Middle English welthe, from Old English wela 'well-being'

English → ItalianwealthricchezzaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: rich, riches.What English and Italian share

The ancestor

Germanic *rīk- + Latin -ITIA‘powerful + abstract-noun suffix’

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

The story

Each sister hung the Latin suffix -ITIA (es -eza, fr -esse, it -ezza) on its word for rich, itself an early Germanic loan. English wealth is native, built on the same root as well.

English relatives: rich, riches

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esLa riqueza no da la felicidad.
  • frLa richesse ne fait pas le bonheur.
  • itLa ricchezza non fa la felicità.
  • ptRiqueza não traz felicidade.
  • roBogăția nu aduce fericirea.
  • caLa riquesa no porta la felicitat.
  • enWealth doesn't bring happiness.

More in Ideas

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