# Longest false "bilingual" word **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 4, 2022, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168 "2022-01-04T00:00:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Hakushon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hakushon/32/5503_2.png) [@Hakushon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakushon)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/141 "2022-01-12T20:47:09Z")
One more, though not as long…in Italian, estate = summer. A longer one (with different meanings, though derived from the same root in both languages): in Romanian, particular = private (as an adjective, or meaning “private person” when used as a noun). Ten letters! Not bad. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/142 "2022-01-12T22:27:37Z")
> [@Hakushon](#): > > though derived from the same root Then it isn’t a _false_ cognate. ---
**Author:** ![Hakushon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hakushon/32/5503_2.png) [@Hakushon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakushon)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/143 "2022-01-12T22:45:37Z")
I know. That’s why I was quick to point out that they were derived from the same root. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/144 "2022-01-14T22:45:49Z")
Just came across the word “neveria” in an article about drive-thru dining options and Googled to find the meaning. I discovered that the word is Spanish for “ice cream”, but also Slovak for “never”. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/145 "2022-01-15T00:05:44Z")
Ice cream parlor. “helado” is ice cream. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/146 "2022-01-15T07:34:04Z")
Only four letters, but while browsing my recipe books, I remembered that “roti” is a kind of flatbread made in India (derived from a Sanskrit word meaning bread), while “roti” in French (rôti, to be strictly accurate) means “roast” and has its roots in proto-European language. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/147 "2022-01-15T08:50:59Z")
Canola oil comes from a plant called rapeseed, also known as **rape** (derives from the Latin word for turnip, rapa or rapum, cognate with the Greek word rhapys, according to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapeseed#:~:text=Rapeseed%20(Brassica%20napus%20subsp.,appreciable%20amounts%20of%20erucic%20acid.)). In Spanish, the word _ **rape** _ means monkfish and _ **rapé** _ means snuff (tobacco product). ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/148 "2022-01-15T12:47:15Z")
As does “roti”, surely. (Not the same PIE root, but PIE). ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/149 "2022-01-15T13:08:27Z")
(Turns out the root of “roti” entered the Indo-European family (as “rotika”) after PIE had evolved to Indo-Iranian and was soon to become Sanskrit and others. It may have been a borrowing from Bactrian. So, Cervaise’s point is valid — not a cognate in any way of French “roti”=“roasted”. Okay….carry on!) ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2022, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/150 "2022-01-16T12:26:05Z")
The French “pinte” means “quart” (be careful when you’re ordering a beer). The French “fart” means “ski wax”. The French “phoque” (pronounced close to the F-word in English) means “seal” (the animal). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168.md?page=7)