"maybe, perhaps" in seven languages

Meaningmaybe, perhaps

Spanish

quizás

/kiˈθas/

other source · Old Spanish quiçab, from Latin QUĪ SAPIT 'who knows'

Also quizá, tal vez, a lo mejor.

French

peut-être

/pøtɛtʁ/

other source · French peut être 'can be'

Italian

forse

/ˈforse/

other source · Latin FORSIT / FORS 'by chance'

Portuguese

talvez

/tawˈves/

other source · Portuguese tal 'such' + vez 'time'

Romanian

poate

/ˈpo̯ate/

other source · Romanian poate 'it can (be)', from Latin *POTĒRE

Catalan

potser

/putˈse/

other source · Catalan pot ser 'it can be'

English

maybe

/ˈmeɪbi/

native English · Middle English may be

English → Italianmaybe, perhapsforseNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh.What English and Italian share

The story

Three ways to shrug: Spanish 'who knows?', French 'it may be', Italian 'by chance' (FORS, the goddess of luck, as in fortune).