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"matter (substance)" in seven languages

Meaningmatter (substance)

Spanish

materia

/maˈteɾja/

fem.learned

Also a school subject.

French

matière

/matjɛʁ/

fem.learned

Also a school subject; matières premières are raw materials.

Italian

materia

/maˈtɛrja/

fem.learned

Also a school subject.

Portuguese

matéria

/maˈtɛɾjɐ/

fem.learned

Also 'school subject' and 'news article' in Brazil.

Romanian

materie

/maˈterie/

fem.learned

Catalan

matèria

/məˈtɛɾiə/

fem.learned

English

matter

/ˈmætɚ/

from Latin/French · Old French matere, from Latin

English → Italianmatter (substance)materiaCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

MĀTERIAM‘timber, building material (from MĀTER 'mother')’

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

The story

MĀTERIA was the hard wood of a tree, the 'mother' stock. Spanish kept an inherited doublet with the t softened: madera, 'wood'.

English relatives: material, materialism

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In a sentence

  • esLa materia está formada por átomos.
  • frLa matière est composée d'atomes.
  • itLa materia è composta da atomi.
  • ptA matéria é formada por átomos.
  • roMateria este formată din atomi.
  • caLa matèria està formada per àtoms.
  • enMatter is made of atoms.

The Latin family

PATR-, MĀTR-· father, mother

PATREM and MĀTREM are near-perfect cognates in Spanish and Italian (padre, madre) and lose the middle in French (père, mère). Their derivatives make good doublets: Spanish padrón 'census roll' and Italian padrone 'owner' beside learned patrón/patrono, and — probably — Spanish madera 'wood' beside learned materia 'matter'. Portuguese pai, mãe and Catalan pare, mare wear the words down further; Romanian replaced both with nursery words, tată and mamă.

  • PATREM (nom. PATER)father

    espadrefrpèreitpadreptpaicapare

  • MĀTREM (nom. MĀTER)mother

    esmadrefrmèreitmadreptmãecamare

  • PATERNUMfatherly

    espaternofrpaternelitpaternoptpaternoropaterncapaternenpaternal

  • MĀTERNUMmotherly

    esmaternofrmaternelitmaternoptmaternoromaterncamaternenmaternal

  • PATRŌNUMprotector, patron

    espatrónfrpatronitpadroneptpatrãoropatroncapatróenpatron

  • COMPATREMco-father, godfather

    escompadrefrcompèreitcompareptcompadrerocumătrucacompare

  • MĀTERIAMtimber; matter

    esmaderafrmatièreitmateriaptmadeiraromateriecamatèriaenmatter

  • PATRIAMfatherland

    espatriafrpatrieitpatriaptpátriaropatriecapàtria

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