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"nervous" in seven languages

Meaningnervous

Spanish

nervioso

/neɾˈbjoso/

learned

Built on nervio 'nerve'.

French

nerveux

/nɛʁvø/

learned

fem.: nerveuse

Italian

nervoso

/nerˈvoso/

learned

Portuguese

nervoso

/nehˈvozu/

learned

Romanian

emoționat

/emotsjoˈnat/

other source · French émotionné (émotion)

Trap: Romanian nervos usually means irritable, angry.

Catalan

nerviós

/nərbiˈos/

learned

English

nervous

/ˈnɝvəs/

from Latin/French · Latin NERVŌSUS

English → ItaliannervousnervosoCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

Watch out: false friends

  • nervos (Romanian) means “irritable, angry” · nervous (English) means “anxious, jittery”

    Both from Latin NERVŌSUM 'sinewy' by way of French nerveux. In Romanian, e nervos pe mine means 'he's annoyed with me', not that he is anxious about meeting me.

All false friends

The Latin ancestor

NERVŌSUM‘sinewy, vigorous’

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

The story

In Latin NERVŌSUS meant 'sinewy, strong'; the jittery sense is modern and shared by all four languages. French spells the -ōsus ending -eux, as in heureux.

English relatives: nerve, nervy, unnerve

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In a sentence

  • esEstoy nervioso antes del examen.
  • frJe suis nerveux avant l'examen.
  • itSono nervoso prima dell'esame.
  • ptEstou nervoso antes da prova.
  • roSunt emoționat înainte de examen.
  • caEstic nerviós abans de l'examen.
  • enI'm nervous before the exam.

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