"dream" in seven languages
Meaningdream
Spanish
/ˈsweɲo/
masc.inherited
Also 'sleep' (tengo sueño 'I'm sleepy'): SOMNUM 'sleep' and SOMNIUM 'dream' merged.
French
/ʁɛv/
masc.other source · French rêver, of uncertain origin
Italian
/ˈsoɲɲo/
masc.inherited
Sleep is a different word, sonno (SOMNUM).
Portuguese
/ˈsoɲu/
masc.inherited
Sleep is sono (SOMNUM), kept apart as in Italian.
Romanian
/vis/
neut.other source · Latin VĪSUM 'something seen, a vision'
plural: vise
Catalan
/ˈsɔmni/
masc.learned
Semi-learned; sleep is son (SOMNUM).
English
/dɹim/
native English · Old English drēam / Old Norse draumr
The Latin ancestor
SOMNIUM‘dream’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Italian keeps dream (sogno) and sleep (sonno) apart; Spanish let the two Latin words collapse into sueño. French went its own way with rêve, whose origin is still debated.
English relatives: insomnia, somnambulist
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- es¡Dulces sueños!
- frFais de beaux rêves !
- itSogni d'oro!
- ptBons sonhos!
- roVise plăcute!
- caBons somnis!
- enSweet dreams!