"now" in seven languages
Meaningnow
Spanish
/aˈoɾa/
inherited
Old Spanish agora; ahorita in Mexico.
French
/mɛ̃tnɑ̃/
other source · main tenant 'holding in the hand' (Latin MANUM + TENĒRE)
Italian
/ˈora/
inherited
Adesso is just as common in speech.
Portuguese
/aˈɡɔɾɐ/
inherited
It keeps the g that Spanish lost (Old Spanish agora).
Romanian
/aˈkum/
other source · Latin ECCUM MODO 'look, just now'
Catalan
/ˈaɾə/
inherited
English
/naʊ/
native English · Old English nū
Native now is a distant cousin of Latin NUNC, the word the sisters lost.
The Latin ancestor
HĀC HŌRĀ‘at this hour’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Latin NUNC died out; speakers said 'at this hour', HĀC HŌRĀ, which gave Spanish ahora (once agora, with lenited c) and Italian ora. French 'now' is 'in hand', what you hold right here.
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esAhora no puedo hablar.
- frJe ne peux pas parler maintenant.
- itOra non posso parlare.
- ptAgora não posso falar.
- roAcum nu pot vorbi.
- caAra no puc parlar.
- enI can't talk now.