"new" in seven languages
Meaningnew
Spanish
nuevo
/ˈnwebo/
inherited
French
nouveau
/nuvo/
other source · Latin NOVELLUM 'newish', diminutive of NOVUS
fem.: nouvelle
Plain neuf (← NOVUM) means 'brand-new'; nouveau means 'new to me, another'.
Italian
nuovo
/ˈnwɔvo/
inherited
Portuguese
novo
/ˈnovu/
inherited
Romanian
nou
/now/
inherited
fem.: nouă
Catalan
nou
/nɔw/
inherited
fem.: nova
English
new
/nu/
Indo-European kin · PIE *néwos
English → ItaliannewnuovoDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: novel, novice, innovate, renovate, nova.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
NOVUM‘new’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spanish nuevo and Italian nuovo show stressed Ŏ breaking into a diphthong. French kept two words: neuf from NOVUM and nouveau from its diminutive NOVELLUM.
English relatives: novel, novice, innovate, renovate, nova
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esTengo un móvil nuevo.
- frJ'ai un nouveau portable.
- itHo un telefono nuovo.
- ptTenho um celular novo.
- roAm un telefon nou.
- caTinc un mòbil nou.
- enI have a new phone.