"fist" in seven languages
Meaningfist
Spanish
puño
/ˈpuɲo/
masc.inherited
Also a shirt cuff; a punch is un puñetazo.
French
poing
/pwɛ̃/
masc.inherited
Italian
pugno
/ˈpuɲɲo/
masc.inherited
Also 'a punch'.
Portuguese
punho
/ˈpuɲu/
masc.inherited
Also the wrist and a shirt cuff; a punch is um soco.
Romanian
pumn
/pumn/
masc.inherited
Also 'a punch'.
Catalan
puny
/puɲ/
masc.inherited
English
fist
/fɪst/
native English · Old English fȳst
English → ItalianfistpugnoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: pugnacious, pugilist.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
PUGNUM‘fist’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Latin GN became a palatal n in the west (puño, pugno, punho, puny), but Romanian moved it to the lips: pumn, as in lemn 'wood' from LIGNUM. Fighting with fists was PUGNĀRE, hence pugnacious.
English relatives: pugnacious, pugilist
Sound laws at work
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In a sentence
- esDio un golpe con el puño en la mesa.
- frIl a tapé du poing sur la table.
- itHa battuto il pugno sul tavolo.
- ptEle bateu com o punho na mesa.
- roA bătut cu pumnul în masă.
- caVa donar un cop de puny a la taula.
- enHe banged his fist on the table.