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"reference" in seven languages

Meaningreference

Spanish

referencia

/refeˈɾenθja/

fem.learned

French

référence

/ʁefeʁɑ̃s/

fem.learned

Italian

riferimento

/riferiˈmento/

masc.learned

Built on riferire 'to refer'; referenza is mostly a job reference.

Portuguese

referência

/hefeˈɾẽsjɐ/

fem.learned

Romanian

referire

/refeˈrire/

fem.borrowed · referi 'to refer' (French référer) + -re

Referință is the bibliographic or benchmark sense.

Catalan

referència

/rəfəˈɾɛnsiə/

fem.learned

English

reference

/ˈɹɛfɚəns/

from Latin/French · refer (Old French referer, Latin REFERRE) + -ence

English → ItalianreferenceriferimentoCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

REFERRE‘to carry back, report’

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

The story

REFERRE is 're-' + FERRE 'to carry': a reference carries you back to something. Italian prefers its own derivative riferimento, with ri- for re-.

English relatives: refer, referee, referendum

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In a sentence

  • esEs una referencia a una película antigua.
  • frC'est une référence à un vieux film.
  • itÈ un riferimento a un vecchio film.
  • ptÉ uma referência a um filme antigo.
  • roEste o referire la un film vechi.
  • caÉs una referència a una pel·lícula antiga.
  • enThis is a reference to an old film.

More words from the same Latin

More in Ideas

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