"incredibly" in seven languages
Meaningincredibly
Spanish
increíblemente
/inkɾeibleˈmente/
learned
French
incroyablement
/ɛ̃kʁwajabləmɑ̃/
inherited
Built on croire 'to believe', inherited from CRĒDERE.
Italian
incredibilmente
/inkredibilˈmente/
learned
Portuguese
incrivelmente
/ĩkɾivewˈmẽtʃi/
learned
Romanian
incredibil
/inkreˈdibil/
learned
The adjective doubles as the adverb: incredibil de lung.
Catalan
increïblement
/iŋkɾəibbləˈmen/
learned
English
incredibly
/ɪnˈkɹɛdəbli/
from Latin/French · Latin INCRĒDIBILIS + -ly
English → ItalianincrediblyincredibilmenteCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
INCRĒDIBILEM‘not to be believed (CRĒDERE)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
French remade the adjective on its own verb croire (incroyable), while Spanish and Italian kept the learned Latin form. All three add the old ablative MENTE 'with a mind'.
English relatives: credible, credit, creed
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esLa película fue increíblemente larga.
- frLe film était incroyablement long.
- itIl film era incredibilmente lungo.
- ptO filme foi incrivelmente longo.
- roFilmul a fost incredibil de lung.
- caLa pel·lícula va ser increïblement llarga.
- enThe film was incredibly long.