Skip to content

"happy New Year" in seven languages

Meaninghappy New Year

Spanish

feliz año nuevo

/feˈliθ ˈaɲo ˈnwebo/

inherited

French

bonne année

/bɔn ane/

inherited

année is from *ANNĀTA 'span of a year'; an is the year as a unit.

Italian

buon anno

/bwɔn ˈanno/

inherited

Portuguese

feliz ano novo

/feˈliz ˈɐ̃nu ˈnovu/

inherited

Romanian

an nou fericit

/an now feriˈtʃit/

inherited

Catalan

bon any nou

/bɔn aɲ nɔw/

inherited

English

happy New Year

/ˈhæpi nu jɪɹ/

native English · Old English gēar

English → Italianhappy New Yearbuon annoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: annual, anniversary, perennial.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

ANNUM‘year’

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

The story

ANNUM shows the NN law cleanly: Spanish ñ (año), Italian nn (anno), French plain n (an, année). Never drop the tilde: Spanish ano, like Italian ano, means 'anus'.

English relatives: annual, anniversary, perennial

Sound laws at work

NN, GN and N + yod

Learn it

Practice the Greetings & courtesy deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • es¡Feliz año nuevo a todos!
  • frBonne année à tous !
  • itBuon anno a tutti!
  • ptFeliz ano novo a todos!
  • roLa mulți ani și an nou fericit!
  • caBon any nou a tothom!
  • enHappy New Year, everyone!

More words from the same Latin

More in Greetings & courtesy

All Greetings & courtesy words