War, law & ruleEveryday life

city

Latin cīvitās was the body of citizens (cīvēs); in late antiquity it came to mean the town itself, and through French cité it pushed aside English burg, which survives as borough. In Romanian it narrowed to 'fortress', in Albanian it became the ordinary word for a city.

Weakest linkCertain

The road to English

From Old French to French

From Late Latin to Italian

From Late Latin to Spanish, Mexican Spanish

From Late Latin to Portuguese

From Late Latin to Catalan

From Late Latin to Romanian

From Late Latin to Albanian

From English to Japanese

100 BCELatin

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

Export “city”

Embed “city”

Save “city”

Export “city”

Embed “city”

Save “city”