Pulga vs pulgadas

Question

cual es la differencia entre los dos palabras?

ejemplo uno: mi plasma es sesenta pulgadas.

ejemplo dos: tengo pulgas en mi pello.

ta bien'

Answer 1

James is right: although they seem to be close, their etymologies do not appear to be related.

"Pulga" seems to be ultimately related to pusl-, from where it also comes the English word "flea".
"Pulgar" seems to come from Latin "pullex", thumb, and this from "pal-", meaning "to touch".

Answer 2

James Santiago said:

I think the similarity here is a coincidence, or at most, the two are very distant relatives. Pulga comes from the Latin pul'ca, while pulgada comes from pulgar, which in turn comes from the Latin pollic'ris. A pulgar is a short shoot that is left on the grapevine after pruning, and I imagine that its typical length was close to an inch.
Surely it's derived from the other meaning of "pulgar" ("thumb"). We have a number of measurements that are "human body-based".

Answer 3

Solo para corregir y añadir algo:
Ejemplo uno: "Mi (televisor de) plasma es de sesenta pulgadas."

Ejemplo dos: "Tengo pulgas en el pelo." (Tengo pulgas en mi cabeza") Por lo general las pulgas viven en animales. "Mi perro tiene pulgas"

Answer 4

I think the similarity here is a coincidence, or at most, the two are very distant relatives. Pulga comes from the Latin pul'ca, while pulgada comes from pulgar, which in turn comes from the Latin pollic'ris. A pulgar is a short shoot that is left on the grapevine after pruning, and I imagine that its typical length was close to an inch.

Answer 5

Pulga is, as diablita said, a flea and pulgada is an inch. Why the words would look like they should be related I can't imagine; not much in common between fleas and inches.

Answer 6

Pulga is flea...

Answer 7

una pulga es un tipo de bicho, y la otra es como inch