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"protest (objection)" in seven languages

Meaningprotest (objection)

Spanish

protesta

/pɾoˈtesta/

fem.learned

French

protestation

/pʁɔtɛstasjɔ̃/

fem.learned

A street protest is a manifestation (une manif).

Italian

protesta

/proˈtɛsta/

fem.learned

Portuguese

protesto

/pɾoˈtɛstu/

masc.learned

Romanian

protest

/proˈtest/

neut.borrowed · Italian protesto and French protester

Catalan

protesta

/pɾuˈtɛstə/

fem.learned

English

protest

/ˈpɹoʊtɛst/

from Latin/French · Old French protester, Latin PRŌTESTĀRĪ

English → Italianprotest (objection)protestaCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

PRŌTESTĀRĪ‘to declare publicly (PRŌ- + TESTĀRĪ 'to bear witness')’

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

The story

To protest was first to 'testify in public', from TESTIS 'witness'. Spanish and Italian make the noun straight from the verb; French uses the longer protestation.

English relatives: testify, testimony, Protestant, contest

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In a sentence

  • esSe fue sin una palabra de protesta.
  • frIl est parti sans un mot de protestation.
  • itSe n'è andato senza una parola di protesta.
  • ptEle saiu sem uma palavra de protesto.
  • roA plecat fără niciun cuvânt de protest.
  • caSe'n va anar sense dir ni una paraula de protesta.
  • enHe left without a word of protest.

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