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"evidence, proof" in seven languages

Meaningevidence, proof

Spanish

prueba

/ˈpɾweba/

fem.inherited

French

preuve

/pʁœv/

fem.inherited

Italian

prova

/ˈprɔva/

fem.inherited

Old Italian had pruova; modern Italian dropped the diphthong.

Portuguese

prova

/ˈpɾɔvɐ/

fem.inherited

Romanian

dovadă

/doˈvadə/

fem.other source · Slavic (cf. Old Church Slavonic dovoditi 'to lead to, prove')

plural: dovezi

Catalan

prova

/ˈpɾɔbə/

fem.inherited

English

evidence

/ˈɛvɪdəns/

other source · Latin ĒVIDENTIA 'obviousness' (via Old French)

English → Italianevidence, proofprovaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: proof, prove, probe, probable.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

PROBĀRE (spoken Latin *PROBA)‘to test, prove’

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

The story

Watch for false friends: es evidencia and fr évidence mostly mean 'obviousness' (c'est une évidence 'it's obvious'). For evidence in court, all three say 'proofs': pruebas, preuves, prove.

English relatives: proof, prove, probe, probable

Sound laws at work

Stressed short O breaks into ue / uo / eu

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In a sentence

  • esLa policía no tiene pruebas.
  • frLa police n'a pas de preuves.
  • itLa polizia non ha prove.
  • ptA polícia não tem provas.
  • roPoliția nu are dovezi.
  • caLa policia no té proves.
  • enThe police have no evidence.

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