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"sharp (of a blade)" in seven languages

Meaningsharp (of a blade)

Spanish

afilado

/afiˈlado/

inherited

Participle of afilar 'to sharpen', built on filo 'cutting edge'.

French

aiguisé

/egize/

other source · aiguiser 'to sharpen', from Vulgar Latin *ACŪTIĀRE (ACŪTUS 'sharp')

Tranchant 'cutting' is just as common.

Italian

affilato

/affiˈlato/

inherited

Participle of affilare, built on filo 'edge'.

Portuguese

afiado

/aˈfjadu/

inherited

Romanian

ascuțit

/askuˈtsit/

other source · Romanian ascuți 'to sharpen' (Latin *EXCŌTĪRE, from CŌS 'whetstone')

Catalan

esmolat

/əzmuˈlat/

other source · Catalan esmolar 'to grind', from mola 'millstone' (Latin MOLAM)

English

sharp

/ʃɑɹp/

native English · Old English scearp

English → Italiansharp (of a blade)affilatoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: filament, file (papers on a thread); acute (fr).What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

FĪLUM‘thread’

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

The story

Spanish and Italian call a blade's edge a 'thread' (filo, from FĪLUM), the fine line along it, and to sharpen is to put a thread on it. French sharpens toward something 'acute'.

English relatives: filament, file (papers on a thread); acute (fr)

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In a sentence

  • esCuidado, el cuchillo está muy afilado.
  • frAttention, le couteau est très aiguisé.
  • itAttenzione, il coltello è molto affilato.
  • ptCuidado, a faca está muito afiada.
  • roAtenție, cuțitul e foarte ascuțit.
  • caCompte, el ganivet està molt esmolat.
  • enCareful, the knife is very sharp.

More words from the same Latin

More in Describing words

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