"brother-in-law" in seven languages
Meaningbrother-in-law
Spanish
cuñado
/kuˈɲado/
masc.inherited
French
beau-frère
/bofʁɛʁ/
masc.other source · beau 'fair' + frère
Italian
cognato
/koɲˈɲato/
masc.inherited
Portuguese
cunhado
/kuˈɲadu/
masc.inherited
Romanian
cumnat
/kumˈnat/
masc.inherited
Romanian turned GN into mn, as in lemn ← LIGNUM.
Catalan
cunyat
/kuˈɲat/
masc.inherited
English
brother-in-law
/ˈbɹʌðɚ ɪn lɔ/
native English · Middle English brother in lawe
plural: brothers-in-law
English → Italianbrother-in-lawcognatoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: cognate.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
COGNĀTUM‘blood relative ('born together')’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Latin COGNĀTUS was any blood relative; Spanish and Italian narrowed it to the brother-in-law, the GN becoming ñ and gn. English cognate — a word 'born together' with another — is the same Latin.
English relatives: cognate
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esMi cuñado es cocinero.
- frMon beau-frère est cuisinier.
- itMio cognato fa il cuoco.
- ptMeu cunhado é cozinheiro.
- roCumnatul meu e bucătar.
- caEl meu cunyat és cuiner.
- enMy brother-in-law is a cook.