Skip to content

"chin" in seven languages

Meaningchin

Spanish

barbilla

/barˈbiʎa/

fem.other source · barba 'beard' (Latin BARBAM) + -illa

Mentón, borrowed from French, is also common.

French

menton

/mɑ̃tɔ̃/

masc.inherited

From spoken *MENTŌNEM, an enlarged MENTUM.

Italian

mento

/ˈmento/

masc.inherited

Portuguese

queixo

/ˈkejʃu/

masc.other source · probably Latin CAPSEUM 'box-shaped' (of the jaw)

Romanian

bărbie

/bərˈbie/

fem.other source · barbă 'beard' (Latin BARBAM) + -ie

Catalan

mentó

/mənˈto/

masc.inherited

plural: mentons

Also barbeta, 'the little beard'.

English

chin

/tʃɪn/

native English · Old English cinn

English → ItalianchinmentoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

MENTUM‘chin’

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

The story

Spanish barbilla and Romanian bărbie both call the chin 'the little beard'. French menton and Catalan mentó grew from an enlarged *MENTŌNEM; Catalan then dropped the final n (plural mentons).

Sound laws at work

French vowel + nasal becomes a nasal vowelCatalan drops -n at the end of a word

Learn it

Practice the The body deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • esApoyó la barbilla en la mano.
  • frIl a posé le menton sur sa main.
  • itHa appoggiato il mento sulla mano.
  • ptEle apoiou o queixo na mão.
  • roȘi-a sprijinit bărbia în palmă.
  • caVa recolzar el mentó a la mà.
  • enHe rested his chin on his hand.

More in The body

All The body words