"pity (what a pity!)" in seven languages
Meaningpity (what a pity!)
Spanish
/ˈlastima/
fem.other source · from lastimar 'to hurt' ← spoken *BLASTEMĀRE, Latin BLASPHĒMĀRE 'to revile'
French
/dɔmaʒ/
masc.other source · Old French damage, from dam 'harm' ← DAMNUM
Italian
/pekˈkato/
masc.inherited
Portuguese
/ˈpenɐ/
fem.other source · Latin POENAM 'penalty' (from Greek poinḗ)
Que pena! 'what a pity'; dó is literary.
Romanian
/pəˈkat/
neut.inherited
Like Italian peccato, also 'sin'.
Catalan
/ˈʎastimə/
fem.other source · from llastimar 'to hurt' ← spoken *BLASTEMĀRE, Latin BLASPHĒMĀRE 'to revile'
Quina pena! is just as common.
English
/ˈpɪti/
other source · Old French pitié (Latin PIETĀTEM)
The Latin ancestor
PECCĀTUM‘fault, sin’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Three unrelated words for one sigh: Italian says 'what a sin', French 'what damage', Spanish 'what a hurt' — the last one, oddly, from 'blaspheme'.
English relatives: impeccable, peccadillo (PECCĀTUM); damage (DAMNUM); blaspheme (BLASPHĒMĀRE)
Learn it
In a sentence
- es¡Qué lástima!
- frQuel dommage !
- itChe peccato!
- ptQue pena!
- roCe păcat!
- caQuina llàstima!
- enWhat a pity!