Buildings and premises in Basque
10 words Basque words on the topic “buildings and premises”: fabrika — factory, baserria — farm, biltegia — warehouse, laborategia — laboratory.
10 words on the topic
- fabrikafactoryA loan from Latin, like ours, openly admitted. The native word lantegia was taken by 'workshop', so the factory here is fabrika
- baserriafarmLiterally 'the wild settlement': baso — 'forest' + erri — 'settlement'. A mountain homestead, a household by the house; hence baserritarra — 'farmer'
- biltegiawarehouseLiterally 'the gathering place': bil/bildu — 'to gather' + -tegi, 'place', like hiztegia — 'the dictionary'. The place where everything is stacked
- laborategialaboratoryAn adapted loan from Latin, openly admitted: labora — 'work' + -tegi, 'place'. The scientist's 'working room'
- ekipamenduaequipmentA loan through the Spanish equipo, openly admitted. Everything a workplace is fitted out with
- ekoizpenaproductionFrom ekoiztu — 'to produce': e- + an old root, the word reassembled at the academy. What the workshop 'brought out'
- uniformeauniformA loan from Latin — unus, 'one' + forma, openly admitted. 'The one-form': everyone dressed the same, and that's the point
- kaskoahard hatA loan from the Spanish casco — helmet and skull at once, openly admitted. The crown of protection: without it nobody enters the site
- lan-segurtasunasafety rulesLiterally 'work's safety': lana — 'work' + segurtasuna — 'safety' (from segur — 'safe'). Safety here is a rule, not a device
- sarrera-baimenapass (entry permit)Literally 'the entry's permission': sarrera — 'entry' + baimena — 'permission', the same as in the driving licence. A paper that lets you in
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
- Fabrika honek mila laguni lan ematen dieThis factory gives work to a thousand people
- Baserritik gazta eta esnea ekartzen dute herriraCheese and milk are brought from the farm to the village
- Biltegi handi bat dago tren-geltokiaren atzeanA big warehouse stands behind the railway station
- Laborategian dena garbi eta ordenatuta dagoIn the laboratory everything is clean and laid out in order
- Ekipamendu berria erosi dute: dena digitala da orainThey bought new equipment: now everything is digital
- Ekoizpena handitu egin da aurtenProduction grew this year
What is worth knowing about these words
fabrika — factory. A loan from Latin, like ours, openly admitted. The native word lantegia was taken by 'workshop', so the factory here is fabrika
baserria — farm. Literally 'the wild settlement': baso — 'forest' + erri — 'settlement'. A mountain homestead, a household by the house; hence baserritarra — 'farmer'
biltegia — warehouse. Literally 'the gathering place': bil/bildu — 'to gather' + -tegi, 'place', like hiztegia — 'the dictionary'. The place where everything is stacked
laborategia — laboratory. An adapted loan from Latin, openly admitted: labora — 'work' + -tegi, 'place'. The scientist's 'working room'
Test yourself
Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “factory” in Basque?
A loan from Latin, like ours, openly admitted. The native word lantegia was taken by 'workshop', so the factory here is fabrika
- How do you say “hard hat” in Basque?
A loan from the Spanish casco — helmet and skull at once, openly admitted. The crown of protection: without it nobody enters the site
- How do you say “equipment” in Basque?
A loan through the Spanish equipo, openly admitted. Everything a workplace is fitted out with
- How do you say “farm” in Basque?
Literally 'the wild settlement': baso — 'forest' + erri — 'settlement'. A mountain homestead, a household by the house; hence baserritarra — 'farmer'
- How do you say “safety rules” in Basque?
Literally 'work's safety': lana — 'work' + segurtasuna — 'safety' (from segur — 'safe'). Safety here is a rule, not a device
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Where to go and what is done there. These words are read off a sign more often than they are spoken.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- This holds not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “factory” in Basque?
«fabrika». A loan from Latin, like ours, openly admitted. The native word lantegia was taken by 'workshop', so the factory here is fabrika. It is one of 10 words in the set “buildings and premises” — the rest are in the table above.
How many words for buildings and places do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 10 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.