"serious" in seven languages
Meaningserious
Spanish
serio
/ˈseɾjo/
learned
French
sérieux
/seʁjø/
learned
fem.: sérieuse
From the Medieval Latin extension SĒRIŌSUS.
Italian
serio
/ˈsɛrjo/
learned
Portuguese
sério
/ˈsɛɾju/
learned
Romanian
serios
/seriˈos/
borrowed · French sérieux
fem.: serioasă
Catalan
seriós
/səɾiˈos/
learned
'Are you serious?' is usually Ho dius de debò?
English
serious
/ˈsɪɹiəs/
from Latin/French · Middle French sérieux / Medieval Latin SĒRIŌSUS
English → ItalianseriousserioCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
SĒRIUM‘grave, earnest’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spanish and Italian took the plain Latin adjective; French and English the longer medieval sēriōsus. 'Are you serious?' is said with en serio / sul serio, 'in earnest'.
English relatives: serious, seriousness
Learn it
In a sentence
- es¿Lo dices en serio?
- frTu es sérieux ?
- itDici sul serio?
- ptVocê está falando sério?
- roVorbești serios?
- caParles seriosament?
- enAre you serious?