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"name" in seven languages

Meaningname

Spanish

nombre

/ˈnombɾe/

masc.inherited

French

nom

/nɔ̃/

masc.inherited

On forms nom is the surname; your first name is your prénom.

Italian

nome

/ˈnome/

masc.inherited

Portuguese

nome

/ˈnomi/

masc.inherited

Romanian

nume

/ˈnume/

neut.inherited

Catalan

nom

/nɔm/

masc.inherited

English

name

/neɪm/

Indo-European kin · PIE *h₁nómn̥

English → ItaliannamenomeDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: noun, nominate, nominal.What English and Italian share

Watch out: false friends

  • nombre (French) means “number” · nombre (Spanish) means “name”

    Two Latin words that converged: Spanish nombre is NŌMEN 'name', from its oblique stem NŌMINE (m'n → mbr), French nombre is NUMERUM 'number' (m'r → mbr).

All false friends

The Latin ancestor

NŌMEN (stem NŌMIN-)‘name’

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

The story

Spanish nombre shows the same m'n → mbr trick as hombre (NŌMINE → nomne → nombre). In all three the word is also grammar's 'noun'.

English relatives: noun, nominate, nominal

Sound laws at work

French vowel + nasal becomes a nasal vowel

Learn it

Practice the People deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • esEscribe tu nombre aquí.
  • frÉcris ton nom ici.
  • itScrivi il tuo nome qui.
  • ptEscreva seu nome aqui.
  • roScrie-ți numele aici.
  • caEscriu el teu nom aquí.
  • enWrite your name here.

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