I noticed that some words are shared between Spanish and English, bu aren't found in French, Italian languages.
1) Wade = vadear
To wade through water is a word that is said to come from the Anglo-Saxon wadan meaning "to go forward, proceed, move, stride, advance". It is found in Dutch (waden), Norwegian/Danish (vade), Swedish (vada) and German (waten).
Vadear means the same in Spanish and Portuguese (Catalan is vadejar) but the etymology dictionary has it come from the Latin vadum/vadus (a ford, which became vado in Spanish), itself derived from the verb vadere (to go).
Both the Latin and Germanic roots come from the Indo-European *wadh (to go), but interestingly both ended up meaning "passing through water at a ford" rather simply "go".
2) Towel = toalla
The word towel came from Old French toaille (12c.), from Frankish *thwahlja, from Proto-Germanic *thwahlijan (source also of Old Saxon thwahila). Yet it disappeared from moderne French (serviette in France, essuie in Belgium) and has no equivalent in modern Germanic languages.
Spanish got toalla and Poruguese toalha. Their etymology is said to be from the Old Germanic thubaljo through the Gothic twahl. The word is completely different in French and Italian (asciugamano).
Once again, a Germanic word ended up being used in English, Spanish and Portuguese with the same meaning, but through very different routes (English through French and Frankish, and Spanish/Portuguese through Gothic). I find that oddly satisfying and fascinating.
1) Wade = vadear
To wade through water is a word that is said to come from the Anglo-Saxon wadan meaning "to go forward, proceed, move, stride, advance". It is found in Dutch (waden), Norwegian/Danish (vade), Swedish (vada) and German (waten).
Vadear means the same in Spanish and Portuguese (Catalan is vadejar) but the etymology dictionary has it come from the Latin vadum/vadus (a ford, which became vado in Spanish), itself derived from the verb vadere (to go).
Both the Latin and Germanic roots come from the Indo-European *wadh (to go), but interestingly both ended up meaning "passing through water at a ford" rather simply "go".
2) Towel = toalla
The word towel came from Old French toaille (12c.), from Frankish *thwahlja, from Proto-Germanic *thwahlijan (source also of Old Saxon thwahila). Yet it disappeared from moderne French (serviette in France, essuie in Belgium) and has no equivalent in modern Germanic languages.
Spanish got toalla and Poruguese toalha. Their etymology is said to be from the Old Germanic thubaljo through the Gothic twahl. The word is completely different in French and Italian (asciugamano).
Once again, a Germanic word ended up being used in English, Spanish and Portuguese with the same meaning, but through very different routes (English through French and Frankish, and Spanish/Portuguese through Gothic). I find that oddly satisfying and fascinating.