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"liar" in seven languages

Meaningliar

Spanish

mentiroso

/mentiˈɾoso/

masc.inherited

French

menteur

/mɑ̃tœʁ/

masc.inherited

Italian

bugiardo

/buˈdʒardo/

masc.other source · Italian bugia 'lie', from Old Provençal bauzia (of Germanic origin)

Portuguese

mentiroso

/mẽtʃiˈɾozu/

masc.inherited

Romanian

mincinos

/mintʃiˈnos/

masc.inherited

Built inside Romanian on minciună 'lie', from the MENTĪRĪ family (the exact Latin noun is debated).

Catalan

mentider

/məntiˈde/

masc.inherited

English

liar

/ˈlaɪɚ/

native English · Old English lēogere

English → ItalianliarbugiardoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

MENTĪRĪ‘to lie’

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

The story

Spanish and French build their liar on MENTĪRĪ (mentir in both). Italian has mentire too, but its everyday lie is bugia, from Old Provençal, so the liar is a bugiardo. (Bugia 'candlestick' is a different word, from the Algerian port Béjaïa.)

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In a sentence

  • esNo le creas, es un mentiroso.
  • frNe le crois pas, c'est un menteur.
  • itNon credergli, è un bugiardo.
  • ptNão acredite nele, ele é um mentiroso.
  • roNu-l crede, e un mincinos.
  • caNo el creguis, és un mentider.
  • enDon't believe him, he's a liar.

More words from the same Latin

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