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"naked" in seven languages

Meaningnaked

Spanish

desnudo

/desˈnudo/

other source · desnudar, from Latin DĒNŪDĀRE 'to strip' (built on NŪDUS)

Plain nudo survives in learned and artistic use.

French

nu

/ny/

inherited

Italian

nudo

/ˈnudo/

inherited

Portuguese

nu

/nu/

inherited

fem.: nua

The d between vowels fell: NŪDUM → nu. Colloquially, pelado.

Romanian

gol

/ɡol/

other source · Slavic golŭ 'bare'

Gol also means 'empty'.

Catalan

nu

/nu/

inherited

fem.: nua

English

naked

/ˈneɪkɪd/

Indo-European kin · PIE *nogʷ-

English → ItaliannakednudoDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: nude, nudity, denude.What English and Italian share

Watch out: false friends

  • nudo (Spanish) means “knot” · nudo (Italian) means “naked”

    Two different Latin words that fell together: Spanish nudo is NŌDUM 'knot', Italian nudo is NŪDUM 'naked'. Each language has the other one too: Spanish desnudo, Italian nodo.

All false friends

The Latin ancestor

NŪDUM‘naked’

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

The story

French fronts the long Ū to [y] (nu); Spanish prefers the 'stripped' form desnudo. Native naked and borrowed nude are distant Indo-European cousins.

English relatives: nude, nudity, denude

Sound laws at work

French fronts long U to [y]

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In a sentence

  • esEl bebé está desnudo.
  • frLe bébé est tout nu.
  • itIl bambino è nudo.
  • ptO bebê está nu.
  • roBebelușul e gol.
  • caEl nadó està nu.
  • enThe baby is naked.

More in Describing words

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