"mirror" in seven languages
Meaningmirror
Spanish
/esˈpexo/
masc.inherited
French
/miʁwaʁ/
masc.other source · derived from mirer 'to look at' (Latin MĪRĀRĪ 'to wonder at')
Italian
/ˈspɛkkjo/
masc.inherited
lo specchio
Portuguese
/isˈpeʎu/
masc.inherited
Romanian
/oˈglində/
fem.other source · Slavic (cf. Old Church Slavonic ogledati 'to look at')
Catalan
/miˈɾaʎ/
masc.other source · Latin MĪRĀCULUM 'marvel' (from MĪRĀRĪ)
English
/ˈmɪɹɚ/
other source · Old French mireor (Latin MĪRĀRĪ)
The Latin ancestor
SPECULUM‘mirror (from SPECERE 'to look')’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
SPECULUM follows the same path as OCULUM: espejo like ojo, specchio like occhio. French took a fresh word from 'gazing', which English borrowed as mirror.
English relatives: speculum, speculate; mirror, admire, miracle (MĪRĀRĪ)
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esSe mira en el espejo.
- frElle se regarde dans le miroir.
- itSi guarda allo specchio.
- ptEla se olha no espelho.
- roSe uită în oglindă.
- caEs mira al mirall.
- enShe looks at herself in the mirror.
The Latin family
SPEC-, SPECT-· look
SPECIĒS 'appearance, kind' split into a popular 'spice' (goods sorted by kind: especia, épice, spezie) and a learned 'species' (especie, espèce, specie). RESPECTUS 'a looking back' did the same: learned respect beside French répit and English respite, 'a second look, a delay'. Portuguese espelho 'mirror' and respeito show the popular branch too.
SPECIEMkind → wares, spice
esespeciafrépiceitspezieptespeciariacaespèciaenspice
SPECIEMkind, species (learned)
esespeciefrespèceitspecieptespécierospeciecaespècieenspecies
SPECULUMmirror
esespejoitspecchioptespelhoenspeculum
RESPECTUMa looking back, regard
esrespetofrrespectitrispettoptrespeitororespectcarespecteenrespect
SPECTĀCULUMa show
esespectáculofrspectacleitspettacoloptespetáculorospectacolcaespectacleenspectacle