# Kinds of walls



## Outsider

Portuguese distinguishes between:

_*parede*_: an inner wall that is an integral part of a building;
_*muro*_: an outside wall used for separation between properties, estates or fields, not part of the building itself;
_*muralha*_: a defensive wall, like a city wall​
I checked that Spanish makes the same tripartite distinction: _*pared, muro, muralla*_. But in English the basic word is the same in all cases, _*wall*_.

I'm curious to know if other languages make these distinctions too, or other distinctions, between kinds of walls.

Thanks in advance.


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## בעל-חלומות

Hebrew_:_

*parede: קיר *(kir)/*כותל* (kotel)
*muro: גדר *(gader)/* חומה *(Homa)
*muralha: חומה *(Homa)

For the second one, I am not sure I understand the meaning. Is it like a fence?


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## Outsider

There's a different word for fence, but yes, it is similar to a fence. A wall that goes around a yard or a field. Basically, a wall that encloses an open space. The Berlin Wall was called Muro de Berlim in Portuguese, for instance. (The Great Wall of China is called Grande Muralha da China.)


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## El escoces

You're correct that, by and large, English has only one word.  I recall reading shopping centre leases where, in order to describe the extent of the property being let, it was necessary to talk of the inner face of externals walls, and one half of internal walls dividing the shop unit from the next shop unit, and the whole of any wall entirely within the shop unit, and so on!

There is a Scottish word (possibly in use in the north of England as well) to describe something similar to Outsider's _muro_, namely *dyke* (anyone familiar with the late Frankie Howerd will no doubt be muffling titters now, but there is no connection with the alternative usage to describe ladies of a particular sexual persuasion).  Dykes are hand-built stone walls used to separate fields or to surround a property, usually in rural communities.  The dykes are extremely hardy (very old dykes are still standing, and in good condition) despite, in the traditional methodology, being constructed without any form of mortar or cement (such dykes being referred to as dry-stane (i.e. stone) dykes).

So in "Scottish" English we do have one alternative for wall.


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## franz rod

In Italian: 
parete and mura like spanish parede and muralha.
muro can be like the spanish muro but it's also the external wall of a building.
muraglia:  high and big wall
muraglione:sustaining wall
tramezzo:inner wall thinner than parete. it can be also made of wood.
muretto: low wall used to separate properties and fields


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## El escoces

For anyone interested, I'm about to open another thread on a related but distinct subject.


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## Outsider

franz rod said:


> muro can be like the spanish muro but *it's also the external wall of a building*.


Yes, upon reflection that also applies to Spanish and Portuguese. There isn't always a strict distincion between _parede_ and _muro_, in any case.


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## Nizo

*Esperanto* captures the idea in different ways:

*vando, septo*:  thin internal wall or other divider, separating a space (used for example to speak of a cell wall, a wall between rooms in a house, a divider between train compartments).

*muro*:  indoor or outdoor wall, either freestanding or supporting a structure.

*mureto*:  a short *muro*.

*murego*:  a large, thick *muro* (castle wall, city wall, Great Wall of China).

There are some other words, as well, with specialized meanings.


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## Miguel Antonio

Outsider said:


> Portuguese distinguishes between:_*parede*_: an inner wall that is an integral part of a building;
> _*muro*_: an outside wall used for separation between properties, estates or fields, not part of the building itself;
> _*muralha*_: a defensive wall, like a city wall​I checked that Spanish makes the same tripartite distinction: _*pared, muro, muralla*_.


In Spain, the common usage today is:
_Pared_: the surface of an inner or outer wall of a building, rather than the wall itself.
_Muro:_ a wall enclosing an area, or the structural outer wall of a large or monumental  building. _Muro de carga_: supporting wall._ Muro de contención: _retaining wall.
_Tabique_: an indoor partition
_Muralla: _the wall of a city or a castle, etc. _Lienzo (de muralla)_: a curtain wall.
_Murallón_: a huge wall, such as the retaining wall of a river dam.
_Dique:  _a dyke as in Holland, or a dock

Where the walls have ears, the eaves may drop


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## Topsie

In French you have _parois_, _mur _and _muraille_.


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## sokol

In German you _could _use *Mauer *for all these meanings but it is possible to diversify:

- *Zwischenmauer *(or) *Trennmauer *= 'wall-that-separates' = _parede_
- *Mauer *(or) *tragende Mauer* = (the latter, of course)  'wall-that-bears-(weight)' = a wall that is crucial to the construction and many times, but not necessarily so, is an outside wall = muro (could also be a 'weight-bearing wall' inside the building but is clearly differentiated from the 'Zwischenmauer' which you may crash without any consequences to stability)
- *Stadtmauer *= 'city wall' = muralha

So it is possible to express the same meanings in German, roughly (only that all of them contain the element 'Mauer - wall').


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## elroy

Sokol, I'm pretty sure a _parede_ is simply a *Wand*.


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## Outsider

Nizo said:


> *vando, septo*:  thin internal wall or other divider, separating a space (used for example to speak of a cell wall, a wall between rooms in a house, a divider between train compartments).


_*Septo*_ exists in Portuguese as a technical term (used in biology, anatomy, etc.)



			
				Miguel Antonio said:
			
		

> _Tabique_: an indoor partition


We use the word _tabique_ in Portuguese too, I think with the same meaning.

(There is, of course, also the elegant word _*biombo*_, in both Spanish and Portuguese... )


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## elroy

Arabic:

_parede/muro_: حائط (_Haa'iT_)
_muralha_: جدار (_jidaar_)


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## sokol

elroy said:


> Sokol, I'm pretty sure a _parede_ is simply a *Wand*.



For me it isn't (but this means also Austrian German, you could be right for Germany - that I don't know): *Wand *for me is simply the name for a wall (any wall) surrounding a room - so 'Wand' as such is just the 'thing' where you hammer nails in to hang up pictures, or where you drill in screws to fasten furniture.

The term 'Wand' as such for me has absolutely no meaning as to wether it's an outside wall or not, and as a son of a mason I am completely sure that masons (at least in Austria, or at least in its northern parts) definitely use 'Zwischenmauer' for _parede _('Trennmauer' also would be understood).

Of course, once again, I can't be sure if the meaning as described by me is universal to the German speaking countries, or if this is an Austrian speciality.


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## elroy

Assuming that _parede_ means the same thing as _pared_ in Spanish, a _parede_ is exactly what you have just described as a _Wand_. 

I wasn't contesting your _Mauer_-related expertise, but I think perhaps you have misunderstood the meaning of _parede_.


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## kusurija

In Czech:
Most common words for wall are: *zeď* (muro). Meaning accented: made of hard materials as bricks or concrete... Best fits for: outside (not necessarily) wall of house/building; less often – fencing wall (cf. ohrada). Berlínská *zeď (Zeď)*, Velká Čínská *Zeď*. Slightly irregular grammar: zeď (sg. NOM.) zdi (GEN., DAT., pl. NOM...); zdí (pl. GEN.)...

*Stěna *(parede).Meaning accented: a face of wall (follows that mainly inside). Best fits for: Na stěně visí obraz (there hangs a picture on the wall); břišní stěna (abdominal wall). 

Less common words for wall are: *příčka *(of +-hard material), *přepážka *(of +-light material, maybe only (lower part) partially separates),(parede).Meaning accented: 'wall-that-separates (crosswise)' (e.g. rooms in a flat). Somewhat builder’s/waller’s terminology. 

*Hradby/hradba *(city wall, castle wall). (muralha)
*Cimbuří *(castle high defensive wall (especially with meandering “crown”)). *Ambit*. (muralha)
*Ohrada *mural/wall fence. Meaning accented: more “content” of it (e.g. park or cemetery or garden) than the wall itself (zeď ). (muro) (meaning of "fence" = plot)


*Palisáda *(pole) stockade. (muralha)
*Hrazení *(muralha)


*Fortna/fort *military defensive building (long), landed up with earth so it looks as long mound. (muralha)
*Val*,* násep *long mound.


In Lithuanian:
*Siena*(parede). (also means (state) boundary)
*Mūras/mūrai* (muro, muralha) (these words IMHO seems to be of foreign origin).


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## Outsider

kusurija said:


> *Palisáda *(pole) stockade. (muralha)


_*Paliçada*_ in Portuguese, and _*empalizada*_ in Spanish, are fences or defensive walls made with sticks.


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## kusurija

Outsider said:


> _*Paliçada*_ in Portuguese, and _*empalizada*_ in Spanish, are fences or defensive walls made with sticks.


Yes this (palisáda) word came from Romance family of languages, I guess.


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## jmx

Miguel Antonio said:


> In Spain, the common usage today is:
> _Pared_: the surface of an inner or outer wall of a building, rather than the wall itself.
> _Muro:_ a wall enclosing an area, or the structural outer wall of a large or monumental building. _Muro de carga_: supporting wall._ Muro de contención: _retaining wall.
> _Tabique_: an indoor partition
> _Muralla: _the wall of a city or a castle, etc. _Lienzo (de muralla)_: a curtain wall.
> _Murallón_: a huge wall, such as the retaining wall of a river dam.
> _Dique: _a dyke as in Holland, or a dock


Another one:

_Tapia_: an outdoors wall closing a property with no roof.


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## Miguel Antonio

jmartins said:


> _Tapia_: an outdoors wall closing a property with no roof.


Es muy curioso que las paredes oigan o tengan oídos y que los que no oyen nada estén sordos como tapias 
Pero bueno, en inglés, a quienquiera que escuche conversaciones ajenas sin estar invitad@ a ello, se le caen las cornisas. Tiene mucho juego/jugo, la arquitectura auditiva


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## blue_jewel

in Tagalog:

Wall - Pader


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## sokol

elroy said:


> Assuming that _parede_ means the same thing as _pared_ in Spanish, a _parede_ is exactly what you have just described as a _Wand_.
> 
> I wasn't contesting your _Mauer_-related expertise, but I think perhaps you have misunderstood the meaning of _parede_.



Well now, this is interesting because if _parede _means what I have described as _Wand _then of course in German it would be like you're saying. 
In this case a general misunderstanding is involved as I thought that _parede _is by definition a wall *not *bordering on the outside of a house.


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## Outsider

Perhaps it was I who did not explain the idea well enough. The basic distinction is between walls that are a part of the structure of a house (or other kind of building), which we call _paredes_, and "free" walls that enclose or divide open spaces, which we call _muros_. A _muro_ can be adjacent to a house, but not a part of it. (Unless it's something like the small wall on the edge of a balcony; that might get called a _muro_ -- but also a _parede_.)

I hope this makes it clearer.


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## Miguel Antonio

Outsider, you have made it all much clearer as I may have been confusing in my own understanding of the usage of the words _muro_ and _pared _in Spanish

I would really appreciate it if other Spanish-speakers from all over Spain and the Americas would submit their viewpoints, for my own sake, for the sake of this thread, and for the sake of WR especially 

Circles, circumferences and spheres are all round, so are smileys


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## sokol

Outsider said:


> Perhaps it was I who did not explain the idea well enough. The basic distinction is between walls that are a part of the structure of a house (or other kind of building), which we call _paredes_, and "free" walls that enclose or divide open spaces, which we call _muros_. A _muro_ can be adjacent to a house, but not a part of it. (Unless it's something like the small wall on the edge of a balcony; that might get called a _muro_ -- but also a _parede_.)
> 
> I hope this makes it clearer.


It certainly does, thanks a lot!

And another thing just came to my mind, another word for city wall. So in German we have:
*
- 'Mauer'* = more or less 'muro' (where 'Zwischenmauer' would be defined as one not being an outside wall, while 'Mauer' could be both an outside and an inside wall and also a wall being adjacent to a house without being part of it: 'Mauer' being the hyperonym, 'Zwischenmauer' the hyponym), but our 'Mauer' *also *can be part of the building: 'Mauer' is a word with a very broad meaning indeed; even though you usually would drive a nail into a 'Wand' to hang up a picture you _also _can hammer it into the 'Mauer' even though in the latter case this would be associated with the construction of a building (the work of a mason) rather than the purpose of decorating the walls

*- 'Wand'* = more or less 'parede' while mainly used for walls at which you look from the _inside _of a room (you hang up pictures on the _Wand_, you pant a _Wand _in whatever colour etc.); also you could use _Wand _for parts of furniture and other meanings; and my German dictionary also states that _Wand _may be used in the sense of _Mauer _(that is, _Mauer _as the thing a mason builds) which sounds strange to my ears but may (probably) be widely used in Germany, that I don't know; one saying probably makes clear the meaning of _Wand:_ 'die eigenen vier Wände' is signifying 'home sweet home' really (literally: within your own four walls, according to my dictionary also - idiomatically - possible in English): _Wand _is the thing you *live in,* while _Mauer _is the thing you _*build *_(that is, _Mauer _is referring more to the aspect of construction while _Wand _refers more to the thing being part of our lifestyle)

* - 'Wall' *= more or less 'muralha' (and corresponding to English 'wall'), but if you call a defensive structure _Wall _what you have in mind is more like a dam made out of earth (or earth plus stones), or probably partly earth, partly stone wall (probably with other defensive structures like palisades attached to it); anyway, it is possible to refer to a defensive wall with German 'Wall', more common however would be *'Stadtmauer'* (which definitely has to be a wall made of _stone)_

So even though German 'Mauer - Wand - Wall' is partly corresponding to Portughese 'muro - parede - muralha' the terms seem to vary considerably in meaning.


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## Outsider

Thank you very much for that detailed and interesting reply.


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## franz rod

Another words in Italian:
a dam: diga
"if you call a defensive structure _Wall _what you have in mind is more like a dam made out of earth (or earth plus stones), or probably partly earth, partly stone wall":  Terrapieno, Aggere or Barbacane (maybe barge-kenning in Englih_). _This words doesn't indicate exactly the same thing)
palisade: palizzata
wooden fence: staccionata, steccato, stecconata (staccionata, steccato, stecconata have some very little differences in meaning)


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## sokol

sokol said:


> *- 'Wand'* = more or less 'parede' (...) and my German dictionary also states that _Wand _may be used in the sense of _Mauer _(that is, _Mauer _as the thing a mason builds) which sounds strange to my ears but may (probably) be widely used in Germany (...)



As I cannot edit my own post any more: this thread suggests that indeed in Germany (in Germany-German, that is) 'Wand' seems to be used also for what to me (in Austrian German) rather should be called 'Mauer'; or at least that some Germans prefer this use.

So the distinction of German 'Wand' and 'Mauer' does not seem to be so straightforward if you include the whole German speaking area.


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## mataripis

Outsider said:


> Portuguese distinguishes between:
> _*parede*_: an inner wall that is an integral part of a building;
> _*muro*_: an outside wall used for separation between properties, estates or fields, not part of the building itself;
> _*muralha*_: a defensive wall, like a city wall​
> I checked that Spanish makes the same tripartite distinction: _*pared, muro, muralla*_. But in English the basic word is the same in all cases, _*wall*_.
> 
> I'm curious to know if other languages make these distinctions too, or other distinctions, between kinds of walls.
> 
> Thanks in advance.


Tagalog:*Parede/inner wall=  Dingding/pader    **Muro/outside wall= Tarangka/bakod        ***Muralha/defensive wall=  Muog


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## apmoy70

In Greek:

«Τείχος» ('tixos, _n._): _The defensive wall of a city/castle_. From the Classical neuter noun, «θεῖχος» ('tʰeixŏs), later, «τεῖχος» ('teixŏs)--> _fortification, city-wall_. PIE base *dheigh-, _to form, build_.
 «Τοίχος» ('tixos, _m._): _The inner wall that is an integral part of a building. _From the Classical masculine noun «τοῖχος» ('toixŏs)--> _wall of a house_ or _enclosure._ A derivation of «τεῖχος». PIE base *dheigh-, _to form, build_.
«Φράκτης» ('fraktis, _m._) and colloquially «φράχτης» ('fraxtis, _m._): _An outside wall used for separation between properties, estates or fields_. From the Classical masculine noun «φράκτης» ('pʰrāktēs)--> init. _sluice with gates, _later_, fence, __a barrier_ or _a boundary__ between properies/estates. _With obscure etymology.
«Προμαχώνας» (proma'xonas, _m._): _The breastwork_ (a quickly constructed wall, usually breast-high for defence), also, _the embattlement_. From the Classical masculine noun «προμαχεών» (prŏmăxĕ'ōn)--> _battlement_. Compound, preposition and prefix «πρὸ» (prŏ)--> _before, in front of_ + verb «μάχομαι» ('măxŏmæ, 'maxome in the modern language)--> _quarrel, wrangle, fight_ (with unknown etymology).
«Τάπια» ('tapça, _f._)--> _battlement_. An Arabic loan word (تعبئة , ta'bya) via Ottoman Turkish.


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## ThomasK

Dutch: _muur, muur, muur,_ I'd say, but one can say _binnenmuur _(inside wall, in-between wall), _wal _perhaps (fortification walls, but they are often not in stone), or _vestingen _[lit. settlements, fixations], the surrounding walls of a fortified town along with water (Vauban).


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## Favara

Catalan:
_*paret*_ - a generic wall. Vulgar Latin parēte.
_*mur*_ - a defensive wall, load-bearing wall, or the external wall of a building. Latin mūru.
_*muralla*_ - a defensive wall, a wall enclosing a vegetable garden. Latin mūrālĭa.
_*envà*_ - a thin wall separating two rooms. Unknown etymology?
*tàpia* - a wall made with mud bricks. Pre-roman, uncertain etymology (I've read Arabic etymology has been discarded).


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## Encolpius

Oh, yes, unfortunately many langauges have more words for one *Hungarian*, so it's quite difficult for us to learn them. 
We say for everything: *fal *


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## AutumnOwl

_*Swedish:*
Vägg_ - the walls of a house, either _innervägg_ - inner wall inside the house, or _yttervägg_ - outer wall, outside of the house, can be either stone or wood
_Mur_ - the free-standing (stone)wall around a garden or house, but it can also be used about the outer stone walls of a building such as a castle or cathedral
_Ringmur, stadsmur_ - a wall around a city

_Stainvast_ - the Gutnic/Gotlandic word for the traditional limestone walls on the island of Gotland, such as this: *http://tinyurl.com/aoweveu*


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## aruniyan

_*vaeli*_ (fence, mostly referring the one made around the house/garden with sticks and wood)
_*suvar*_(wall inside the house)
_*araN*_(walls around forts, that which protects)
_*mathil*_(a raised platform)


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## arielipi

Also in hebrew:
for the second: מחיצה\חוצץ /x/otzetz/me/x/itza.


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## ThomasK

How interesting to see that some languages refer to some kind of key word like _wall/ mu(u)r_, whereas others seem to consider them as separate concepts. But that would be a topic to be explored at EHL, I guess.


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## AutumnOwl

The Swedish word _vägg_ is related to words such as to twine or to weave, as the first walls were just made of tree branches twined together to give some kind of protection against the weather. By the time people up here learned to build houses with stone walls they started using the word _mur_ about those walls.


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