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"reward" in seven languages

Meaningreward

Spanish

recompensa

/ɾekomˈpensa/

fem.learned

French

récompense

/ʁekɔ̃pɑ̃s/

fem.learned

Italian

ricompensa

/rikomˈpɛnsa/

fem.learned

Portuguese

recompensa

/hekõˈpẽsɐ/

fem.learned

Romanian

recompensă

/rekomˈpensə/

fem.borrowed · French récompense

Catalan

recompensa

/rəkumˈpɛnsə/

fem.learned

English

reward

/ɹɪˈwɔɹd/

other source · Anglo-Norman rewarder, Old French regarder 'to look at, heed'

Reward and regard are the same Old French word in two dialect shapes.

English → ItalianrewardricompensaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: recompense, compensate, pension.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

RECOMPENSĀRE (Late Latin)‘to weigh back, make up for’

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

The story

Latin PENSĀRE was 'to weigh': a recompense balances the scales. English took its everyday reward from a Norman form of regarder, so the Romance words point instead to the formal recompense.

English relatives: recompense, compensate, pension

Sound laws at work

French vowel + nasal becomes a nasal vowel

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In a sentence

  • esHay una recompensa por encontrar al perro.
  • frIl y a une récompense pour qui retrouve le chien.
  • itC'è una ricompensa per chi ritrova il cane.
  • ptHá uma recompensa para quem encontrar o cachorro.
  • roSe oferă o recompensă pentru găsirea câinelui.
  • caHi ha una recompensa per a qui trobi el gos.
  • enThere is a reward for finding the dog.

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