fetge

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin fīcātum (“liver”) (compare Occitan fetge, French foie, Spanish hígado), ellipsis of Latin iecur fīcātum (“fig-stuffed liver”). First attested in 1288.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈfe.d͡ʒə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈfe.d͡ʒe]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

fetge m (plural fetges)

1. (anatomy) liver

   (idiomatic) de sang i fetge ― with violent and gory details (literally, “of blood and liver”) used to describe a truculent show

   (idiomatic) treure el fetge ― to make great efforts to achieve something (literally, “to throw up the liver”)

   (idiomatic) posar-se pedres al fetge ― to worry about something (literally, “to have stones in the liver”)

   setze jutges d'un jutjat mengen fetge d'un penjat

   a tongue twister

   (literally, “sixteen judges of a court eat liver from a hanged man”)

   the quintessential Catalan tongue twister to test your voiced sibillant consonants [z,ʒ,dz,dʒ]

Derived terms

• fetge de vaca
• fetge picat
• fetgera
• fetjó

 

Further reading

• “fetge” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “fetge” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “fetge” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Occitan

Etymology

From Old Occitan (compare Catalan fetge), from Late Latin fīcātum (“liver”), from Latin iecur fīcātum (“fig-stuffed liver”), attested from the 13th century.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Languedoc):

  (file)

Noun

fetge m (plural fetges)

1. (anatomy) liver