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"soft (not hard)" in seven languages

Meaningsoft (not hard)

Spanish

blando

/ˈblando/

other source · Latin BLANDUM 'smooth, coaxing'

Suave is 'soft' to the touch.

French

mou

/mu/

inherited

fem.: molle

Doux is 'soft' to the touch or ear.

Italian

morbido

/ˈmɔrbido/

other source · Latin MORBIDUM 'sickly'

Molle, the heir of MOLLEM, means 'limp, slack'.

Portuguese

mole

/ˈmɔli/

inherited

Soft to the touch (skin, fabric) is macio.

Romanian

moale

/ˈmo̯ale/

inherited

The plural moi shows Romanian dropping l before i, as in cal → cai.

Catalan

tou

/tow/

other source · Latin TŌFUM 'tufa, porous stone'

fem.: tova

English

soft

/sɔft/

native English · Old English sōfte

English → Italiansoft (not hard)morbidoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: mollify, mollusc, emollient.What English and Italian share

Watch out: false friends

  • morbid (English) means “gruesome, preoccupied with death” · morbido (Italian) means “soft”

    Both from Latin MORBIDUS 'diseased'. Italian softened it through 'delicate, tender (like flesh)' to plain 'soft'; English kept the disease.

All false friends

The Latin ancestor

MOLLEM‘soft’

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

The story

French mou is MOLLEM with its l turned into a vowel; the l comes back in the feminine molle. Spanish keeps MOLLIS only in the literary muelle; blando is BLANDUS 'coaxing'.

English relatives: mollify, mollusc, emollient

Sound laws at work

L before a consonant becomes u

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In a sentence

  • esEste colchón es demasiado blando.
  • frCe matelas est trop mou.
  • itQuesto materasso è troppo morbido.
  • ptEste colchão é mole demais.
  • roSalteaua asta e prea moale.
  • caAquest matalàs és massa tou.
  • enThis mattress is too soft.

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