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"owner" in seven languages

Meaningowner

Spanish

dueño

/ˈdweɲo/

masc.other source · Latin DOMINUM 'master'

Also propietario, as in French and Italian.

French

propriétaire

/pʁɔpʁijetɛʁ/

masc.learned

Also 'landlord'.

Italian

proprietario

/proprjeˈtarjo/

masc.learned

Portuguese

dono

/ˈdonu/

masc.other source · Latin DOMINUM 'master'

Romanian

stăpân

/stəˈpɨn/

masc.other source · Slavic stopanŭ 'master of the house'

Proprietar (learned) is the owner of property; a dog has a stăpân.

Catalan

amo

/ˈamu/

masc.other source · of uncertain origin (shared with Spanish amo)

Propietari (learned, PROPRIETĀRIUM) is the word for property.

English

owner

/ˈoʊnɚ/

native English · Old English āgnian

English → ItalianownerproprietarioNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: proprietor, property; dominate, don (es).What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

PROPRIETĀRIUM‘owner (from PROPRIUS 'one's own')’

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

The story

French and Italian use the learned legal word; everyday Spanish dueño is the worn-down DOMINUM 'master of the house', its stressed o broken to ue and m'n turned ñ. Its feminine dueña is a cognate of Italian donna.

English relatives: proprietor, property; dominate, don (es)

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • es¿Quién es el dueño de este perro?
  • frQui est le propriétaire de ce chien ?
  • itChi è il proprietario di questo cane?
  • ptQuem é o dono deste cachorro?
  • roCine e stăpânul câinelui ăstuia?
  • caQui és l'amo d'aquest gos?
  • enWho is the owner of this dog?

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