"sight, eyesight" in seven languages
Meaningsight, eyesight
Spanish
/ˈbista/
fem.inherited
Also 'view': una habitación con vista al mar.
French
/vy/
fem.inherited
Also 'view': une chambre avec vue sur la mer.
Italian
/ˈvista/
fem.inherited
Portuguese
/ˈvistɐ/
fem.inherited
Romanian
/veˈdere/
fem.inherited
The long infinitive of vedea 'to see', used as a noun.
Catalan
/ˈbistə/
fem.inherited
English
/saɪt/
native English · Old English gesiht
The Latin ancestor
VIDĒRE‘to see’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Each sister made its noun from the past participle of 'to see': Spanish and Italian visto, French vu. English view is the French word, borrowed.
English relatives: view, vista, vision, visa, visible
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esMi abuela tiene mala vista.
- frMa grand-mère a une mauvaise vue.
- itMia nonna ha la vista debole.
- ptMinha avó tem a vista fraca.
- roBunica mea are vederea slabă.
- caLa meva àvia té mala vista.
- enMy grandmother has poor eyesight.
The Latin family
VID-, VĪS-· see
VIDĒRE lost its middle in Spanish (Old Spanish veer → ver) and French (voir) but kept it in Italian vedere. The sisters built new spoken participles — *VĪSTA behind vista, *VIDŪTA behind French vue — while classical VĪSUM fed the learned words. Catalan veure turned the d into u; Romanian vedea kept it, like Italian.
VIDĒREto see
esverfrvoiritvedereptverrovedeacaveure
*VĪSTAMsight (spoken-Latin participle)
esvistafrvueitvistaptvistacavistaenvista
VĪSIŌNEMsight, vision
esvisiónfrvisionitvisioneptvisãoroviziunecavisióenvision
VĪSITĀREto go to see
esvisitarfrvisiteritvisitareptvisitarrovizitacavisitarenvisit
PROVIDĒREto foresee, provide for
esproveerfrpourvoiritprovvedereptprovercaproveirenprovide
ĒVIDENTEMplain to see
esevidentefrévidentitevidenteptevidenteroevidentcaevidentenevident