I’m a big fan of quotidian. I think it’s a great word for the concept and I like to use it when I’m bored with run-of-the-mill and mundane. But I have noticed that it is not a popular english word by any means. I’ve only once heard it spoken in real life by someone other than me and I’ve encountered it very rarely in print. But I have seen the word cotidiano many many times in spanish texts I’ve read. I remember, too the first time i saw it and was taken aback at how clearly it was a cognate for the english word. Perhaps I have just been reading all the wrong things but I am under the impression that it is a much more prevalent vocabulary word in Spanish than in English and my question to you is do you know of any other words that are quite clearly cognates in two languages and the one language uses it a heck of a lot more than the other language?
Well it’s straight from the Latin word quotidie meaning “every day” (as an adverb), which led to the adjective form quotidianus. In English we commonly use the Germanic derived words “everyday” or “daily” - the Latin derived cognate, as so often is the case, is reserved for the overeducated when they wish to affect a snooty overtone for erudition or irony. 
I do think of the word a lot though because of the chain of bread bakeries in NYC called Le Pain Quotidien, making fresh French loaves and other breads every day and selling it along with good cheeses, etc., with in-store dining on large communal wooden tables.
So to address your OP, think of other English words where there’s a simple Germanic word and a longer Latinate equivalent.
alacrity = speed, haste
domicile = house
fraternal = brotherly
lacrimose, lacrimation = tearful, welling up with tears
incivility = rudeness
And so on.
Actually I believe “quotidien” in English is a borrowing from French (we borrowed the pronunciation and the spelling anyway). While not unknown, as in the Belgian bakery chain Pain Quotidien (“Daily Bread”), as an English word it’s fairly uncommon and highbrow, probably because English has a wealth of words that mean the exact same thing and aren’t perceived as Frenchified.
Daily
Everyday
Ordinary
Work-a-day
I find it a quite banal word myself.
Well… I don’t know how de rigueur it is, but my Spanish-speaking girlfriend usually referred to her period as her menstruación, whereas in English the word “menstruation” is normally reserved for a more clinical setting.
Robardin’s post summed it up nicely though. You’ll see this happening pretty frequently in Spanish (as well as the other Romance languages) because most Spanish words are derived from Latin. Whereas in English the shorter, more common words are Germanic and the longer, fancier words are usually Latin or Greek in origin.
Thanks Rigamarole.
I am aware of English’s heritage as a germanic language with latinization. What I’m looking for is cases where the latin english word is not very common but in another language the equivalent is used a lot. English doesn’t have to be one of the languages either.
It’s still very clinical in Spanish, although somewhat more common in Latin America than in Spain; it’s one of those words which people use when they want to make sure they’re not using slang or a dialectal variation, as either slang or dialectal words are more easily misunderstood. Many words which sound obsolete or overwrought to a Spaniard are everyday use in (parts of) Latin America, many which sound obsolete or overwrought to someone from “big cities” are everyday use in “the provinces”.
And while both diario and cotidiano are perfectly cromulent Spanish, diario is a lot more common.
While translating family Birth/Marriage records from 18th Century Quebec, I was confused at how many people had the occupation of ‘Journaliste’ until I found that it meant ‘Day-Laborer’.