Posts in the F to P Category at Learning Spanish & Etymology Pattern-Matching for Nerds

It is both surprising and funny that in Spanish, a Flea Market is translated to be, literally, exactly the same: Mercado de Pulgas. But it is even more surprising (although probably less funny) t...

https://spanishetymology.com/pulga-flea/

The Spanish pudrir, “to rot,” has a surprising connection to the English, foul, a word meaning the same but sadly very underused these days — although still when quoting Macbeth: fair is fo...

https://spanishetymology.com/pudrir-foul/

Father is one of the most basic words in every language and a traceable pattern throughout the Indo-European languages. The original PIE sound “p-” changed in all the Germanic languages to �...

https://spanishetymology.com/padre-father/

The Spanish pegar (“to paste”) comes from the Latin pix, meaning “tar.” That makes sense: “paste” looks like just a more diluated “tar.” But pix itself comes from the Proto-Indo-E...

https://spanishetymology.com/pegar-and-pituitary-and-fat/

The relation between “five” in Spanish (cinco) and English is one of the more surprising relationships: they are indeed direct second cousins! Both come from the same Proto-Indo-European root...

https://spanishetymology.com/cinco-five/

The Spanish for “foam”, espuma, comes from the Latin for the same: spuma. And this Latin comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)poi-moi from which we also get the English… foam. How so...

https://spanishetymology.com/espuma-and-foam/

The English foot comes from the Indo-European root *ped. Think pedal. Interestingly, the “p” sound consistently transformed into an “f” in the Germanic languages — but remained a “p�...

https://spanishetymology.com/pie-foot/

Pluma, Spanish for “feather”, sounds nothing like the English feather. But it is a cousin to the English fleece. Both come from the same Indo-European root *pleus-, which meant “feather” ...

https://spanishetymology.com/pluma-fleece/