rugose — an adjective meaning “wrinkled” or being full of wrinkles
rugoso — the masculine Spanish and Italian cognate of the same meaning
rugosa — the feminine Spanish and Italian cognate of the same meaning
These cognates come from the Latin ruga which means “wrinkle.” The word “ruga” exists in English, too, where it refers to an anatomical wrinkle or fold found inside us, like in our stomach lining. When you look it up, it says it is usually used in a plural sense as “rugae.” That plural form can be pronounced in a plurality of ways — ru-guy, ru-ghee, and ru-gee. No wonder words confuse people!
As we age, our faces become more and more rugose, as do our hands and other parts of our body. Elephants, by nature, are rugose animals. In Spanish, I could say, “Un elefante es rugoso.” That’s almost exactly what it would be in Italian, too — “un elefante è rugoso.”
When talking about the wrinkles on one’s face in Spanish, though, you’d use the word “arrugas.” You can easily see that the word “ruga” is at the heart of that word. One wrinkle would be “una arruga.” If you wrinkle something, you’d need to use the verb which is “arrugar.” While “wrinkle” and “arruga” are clearly NOT cognates, knowing that root word of “ruga” makes learning and remembering “arruga” in Spanish quite easy.
A synonym of “rugose” is “rugate.” Did you know that word? I didn’t, to be honest. It has an easy cognate in Spanish of “rugato.” Knowing where “rugate” comes from makes it easy to see how we came up with the word “corrugate,” which is a verb that means “to form into folds or wrinkles with alternating ridges and grooves.” The Spanish verb cognate is “corrugar.”
We more often use the adjective of “corrugated” to describe something that has already been formed in such a way. In Spanish that would be “corrugado” or “corrugada.” They also use “ondulado” to mean “wavy,” but that’s not a cognate for “corrugated.”
Now, to throw my own small “wrinkle” into things — I’m making a change . . .
I’ve been writing “Cognate Cognizance” for over a year. Ultimately, I do hope to turn these posts into a book, but I need to compile quite a few more before I do that. As I work toward that goal, I am turning on paid subscriptions for this informational and educational weekly post. It’s set at 5.00 dollars a month or 55.00 dollars for a year. There’s also an option for you to pay more than the standard, but that’s something that’s up to you — if you think what I have to offer is worth more than what I’m asking, for example, or if you’d like to compensate me somewhat for the past year, etc..
My plan is to provide two free posts a month and two that will only go to the paid subscribers and that will be more in depth when possible. Only paid subscribers will have access to the archive of all my posts as well, so if you want to be able to go back and read anything prior to September 1st, you’ll need to pay subscribe. (Also, only paid subscribers can hear the recorded versions of the posts.)
I appreciate each and every one of you who have joined me as free subscribers, so I do want to continue to offer you something, but I’ve heard from enough people this past year to know that I am offering something fairly unique with these posts; thus, I think it’s time to earn a little for my work.
If enough of you pay to subscribe, there will be further perks down the road. If you don’t want to pay to subscribe, that is totally fine. You will still receive the two free posts each month, so stay with me.
Thanks. Until next time.
Tammy Marshall
Rugose