the leg of the chair

Encolpius

Encolpius

Senior Member
Hungarian
Good morning ladies & gentelmen, what do you call the leg(s) of a chair in your language? Do you translate it as leg or something different?
Thank you for your cooperation in advance and have a productive weekend. Encolpius from Prague (EU, Czechia) 🍀

Hungarian - a szék lába [láb - leg]
 
    • In French:
    Le(s) pied(s) de la chaise

    Literally: the foot/feet of the chair

    As a whole, the set of legs of a piece of furniture is also called le piètement, but it's a technical, less common term than les pieds.
     
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    Here in Mexico I've never heard it called anything other than las patas de la silla (= (lit.) "the legs of the chair"), and that applies for other kinds of furniture with legs, as well.

    Notice, though, that we don't use the usual, general term for "leg" (of a human) in Spanish (= pierna), but the one used to refer to the legs of any non-human animal, insect, etc, i.e. pata, which may still be (and not rarely is) used to talk about human legs, but always in a pejorative or humorous manner.

    Over here patas can also mean "footprints", but specifically in the meaning "dirty marks left on a floor by feet or shoes".
     
    It's leg in Greek too:
    «Πόδι» [ˈpo̞ði] (neut.) --> foot, leg < Byzantine Greek neuter diminutive «πόδι(ο)ν» /ˈpodi(o)n/ < Classical 3rd declension masculine noun «πούς» /pus/ (nom. sing.), «ποδός» /poˈdos/ (gen. sing.). Chairs, tables, desks, have «πόδια» [ˈpo̞ðʝa] (neut. nom. pl.).
     
    Swedish:
    Stolsben (chair leg/legs) - here the /s/ is to make pronunciation easier
    Stolens ben (the chair's leg/legs) - here the /s/ has the same meaning as the English "of the"

    Same word for leg in singular and plural.
     
    Cymraeg/Welsh

    Like most here, chairs have legs ('coes cadair'), where 'coes' (n.f.) derives from Latin coxa. (Celts didn't have arms either as this word - braich - also derives from Latin ...)

    However, you may be interested to know that us Northerners refer to the handles of various implements/tools as 'coes' as well, and this can be synonymous with 'troed' ('a foot').

    Further, the whole country will refer to the 'troed (foot) stôl' (stool) - as these do not have a 'coes'. Perhaps we are establishing a link with @Yendred, here ...
     
    English uses both "arms" and "legs" for parts of a chair. A chair's "arms" are there to support the sitting person's arms. An "armchair" is a chair that has arms. Many chairs don't have arms.



    chair1.jpg
    chair2.jpg
     
    dojibear said:
    English uses both "arms" and "legs" for parts of a chair. A chair's "arms" are there to support the sitting person's arms. An "armchair" is a chair that has arms. Many chairs don't have arms.



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    A bit off topic I guess, but armchair to us is a multithrone = «πολυθρόνα» [po̞liˈθɾo̞na] (fem.), in reality an Italian loan, poltrona, but with folk-etymology it has been regarded (falsely) in Greek as a compound of the oblique «πολυ-» [po̞li-] --> multi- < Classical adjective «πολύς» /poˈlys/ --> much, many, often (PIE *p(e)lh₁- many cf Skt. पुरु /ˈpuɾu/ --> many, Lat. plūs /pluːs/) + masculine noun «θρόνος» [ˈθɾo̞no̞s̠] --> throne < Classical masc. noun «θρόνος» /ˈtʰronos/ --> throne, seat, chair of state, judge's seat (possibly from PIE *dʰer- to hold, support cf Skt. धरति /ˈdʱɐɾɐti/ --> to hold). Hence the spelling with ypsilon in «πολυθρόνα».
     
    Catalan:

    · petge ['peʤə] (from Latin *pĕdĭcu 'little foot') - Specifically referred to the leg of any object with four legs (table, chair, bed...)
    · pota ['pɔtə] (Uncertain origin, probably from a *pauta related to the Dutch poot and German Pfote) - General meaning and the one commonly used. Also used for the legs of animals.
     
    Yendred said:
    In French:
    Le(s) pied(s) de la chaise

    Literally: the foot/feet of the chair

    As a whole, the set of legs of a piece of furniture is also called le piètement, but it's a technical, less common term than les pieds.
    Click to expand...
    In Canada, we say la patte / les pattes de la chaise. Of course, pied would be understood too.

    pied = foot
    patte = leg
     
    Yendred said:
    of animals exclusively, or slang when referring to humans (or in fixed expressions like traîner la patte = to move slowly).
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    Of course. For humans, leg is jambe. Patte is leg, paw or hoof, according to the animals.
     
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