"awful, horrible" in seven languages
Meaningawful, horrible
Spanish
horrible
/oˈrible/
learned
French
affreux
/afʁø/
other source · affre 'terror', of uncertain origin
fem.: affreuse
Horrible is also common.
Italian
orribile
/orˈribile/
learned
Italian drops the Latin h.
Portuguese
horrível
/oˈhivew/
learned
Romanian
groaznic
/ˈɡro̯aznik/
other source · groază 'terror', from Slavic groza
Catalan
horrible
/uˈribblə/
learned
English
awful
/ˈɔfəl/
native English · awe (Old Norse agi) + -ful
English → Italianawful, horribleorribileNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: horrible, horror, horrid.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
HORRIBILEM‘dreadful, that makes the hair stand on end’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
HORRĒRE meant 'to bristle' — horror makes your hair stand up. Spanish keeps a silent h, Italian drops it; French prefers affreux.
English relatives: horrible, horror, horrid
Learn it
In a sentence
- esHizo un tiempo horrible.
- frIl a fait un temps affreux.
- itIl tempo era orribile.
- ptO tempo estava horrível.
- roVremea a fost groaznică.
- caVa fer un temps horrible.
- enThe weather was awful.
More words from the same Latin
More in Describing words
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