"mind" in seven languages
Meaningmind
Spanish
mente
/ˈmente/
fem.learned
French
esprit
/ɛspʁi/
masc.other source · Latin SPĪRITUM 'breath, spirit' (semi-learned)
Also 'wit': avoir de l'esprit.
Italian
mente
/ˈmente/
fem.learned
Portuguese
mente
/ˈmẽtʃi/
fem.learned
Romanian
minte
/ˈminte/
fem.inherited
Stressed e before n closes to i in Romanian: MENTEM → minte, as VENDERE → vinde.
Catalan
ment
/men/
fem.learned
English
mind
/maɪnd/
Indo-European kin · PIE *men- 'to think'
English → ItalianmindmenteDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: mental, mention, comment.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
MENTEM‘mind’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
The ablative MENTE, 'with a … mind', became the adverb ending: claramente, clairement, chiaramente were once 'with a clear mind'. French says esprit, 'spirit', for the mind itself.
English relatives: mental, mention, comment
Sound laws at work
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In a sentence
- esTenlo en mente.
- frGarde-le à l'esprit.
- itTienilo a mente.
- ptTenha isso em mente.
- roȚine minte asta.
- caTingues-ho en ment.
- enKeep it in mind.