"brother" in seven languages
Meaningbrother
Spanish
/eɾˈmano/
masc.other source · Latin (FRĀTREM) GERMĀNUM 'full brother, of the same stock'
French
/fʁɛʁ/
masc.inherited
Italian
/fraˈtɛllo/
masc.inherited
A diminutive, *FRĀTELLUS 'little brother', now neutral.
Portuguese
/ihˈmɐ̃w/
masc.other source · Latin GERMĀNUM 'of the same stock'
Like Spanish hermano; frei 'friar' is what is left of FRĀTER.
Romanian
/ˈfrate/
masc.inherited
Catalan
/ʒərˈma/
masc.other source · Latin GERMĀNUM 'of the same stock'
Catalan drops the final -n: GERMĀNUM → germà.
English
/ˈbɹʌðɚ/
Indo-European kin · PIE *bʰréh₂tēr
Watch out: false friends
frate (Italian) means “friar, monk” · frate (Romanian) means “brother”
Both from Latin FRĀTREM 'brother'. Romanian kept it for family; Italian left the plain form to the Church and uses the diminutive fratello for a sibling. Romanian soră 'sister' and Italian suora 'nun' split the same way.
The Latin ancestor
FRĀTREM‘brother’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spanish alone dropped FRĀTER (it lives on in fray, fraile 'friar') for GERMĀNUS 'of the same stock' — the germane brother. Italian chose the diminutive fratello for every brother.
English relatives: fraternal, fraternity, friar; germane (es)
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esMi hermano es mayor que yo.
- frMon frère est plus âgé que moi.
- itMio fratello è più grande di me.
- ptMeu irmão é mais velho que eu.
- roFratele meu e mai mare decât mine.
- caEl meu germà és més gran que jo.
- enMy brother is older than me.