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"innocent" in seven languages

Meaninginnocent

Spanish

inocente

/inoˈθente/

learned

Spanish simplifies the double n.

French

innocent

/inɔsɑ̃/

learned

fem.: innocente

Italian

innocente

/innoˈtʃɛnte/

learned

Portuguese

inocente

/inoˈsẽtʃi/

learned

Romanian

nevinovat

/nevinoˈvat/

other source · ne- 'not' + vinovat 'guilty', from vină 'guilt' (Slavic)

Inocent exists too, but courts declare you nevinovat.

Catalan

innocent

/inuˈsen/

learned

English

innocent

/ˈɪnəsənt/

from Latin/French · Old French innocent, Latin INNOCENS

English → ItalianinnocentinnocenteCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

INNOCENTEM‘harmless (IN- 'not' + NOCĒRE 'to harm')’

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

The story

Innocent means 'not harming', from NOCĒRE 'to hurt', the root of noxious and nuisance. The c before e shows the usual split: θ in Spain, s in France, tʃ in Italy.

English relatives: innocuous, noxious, nuisance

Sound laws at work

C before E and I

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In a sentence

  • esEl jurado lo declaró inocente.
  • frLe jury l'a déclaré innocent.
  • itLa giuria lo ha dichiarato innocente.
  • ptO júri o declarou inocente.
  • roJuriul l-a găsit nevinovat.
  • caEl jurat el va declarar innocent.
  • enThe jury found him innocent.

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