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"friend" in seven languages

Meaningfriend

Spanish

amigo

/aˈmigo/

masc.inherited

French

ami

/ami/

masc.inherited

Italian

amico

/aˈmiko/

masc.inherited

plural: amici

Portuguese

amigo

/aˈmiɡu/

masc.inherited

Romanian

prieten

/priˈeten/

masc.other source · Old Church Slavonic prijatelĭ 'friend'

Prieten also means 'boyfriend'; the Latin AMĪCUS left no everyday heir in Romanian.

Catalan

amic

/əˈmik/

masc.inherited

English

friend

/fɹɛnd/

native English · Old English frēond

English → ItalianfriendamicoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: amicable, amiable, amity.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

AMĪCUM‘friend (from AMĀRE 'to love')’

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

The story

A textbook cognate: the k of AMĪCUM is kept in Italian, voiced to g in Spanish and gone in French — the lenition law in one word.

English relatives: amicable, amiable, amity

Sound laws at work

Voiceless stops between vowels soften

Learn it

Practice the People deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • esEs mi mejor amigo.
  • frC'est mon meilleur ami.
  • itÈ il mio migliore amico.
  • ptEle é meu melhor amigo.
  • roE cel mai bun prieten al meu.
  • caÉs el meu millor amic.
  • enHe's my best friend.

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