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"challenge" in seven languages

Meaningchallenge

Spanish

desafío

/desaˈfio/

masc.inherited

Reto is just as common.

French

défi

/defi/

masc.inherited

Italian

sfida

/ˈsfida/

fem.inherited

Portuguese

desafio

/dezaˈfiu/

masc.inherited

Romanian

provocare

/provoˈkare/

fem.other source · provoca ← Latin PROVOCĀRE 'to call out' (via French provoquer)

Catalan

repte

/ˈrɛptə/

masc.other source · reptar 'to challenge' ← Latin REPUTĀRE

English

challenge

/ˈtʃæləndʒ/

other source · Old French chalenge 'accusation', from Latin CALUMNIA 'trickery'

English → ItalianchallengesfidaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: defy, confide, fidelity.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

*FĪDĀRE (spoken Latin)‘to trust (classical FĪDERE)’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

A challenge was a formal withdrawal of trust: each sister put an 'un-' prefix on the verb 'to trust' (des-, dé-, s-). English defy is the French verb; challenge itself comes from CALUMNIA, as in calumny.

English relatives: defy, confide, fidelity

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esAprender un idioma es un desafío.
  • frApprendre une langue est un défi.
  • itImparare una lingua è una sfida.
  • ptAprender uma língua é um desafio.
  • roSă înveți o limbă străină e o provocare.
  • caAprendre una llengua és un repte.
  • enLearning a language is a challenge.

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