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"student (university)" in seven languages

Meaningstudent (university)

Spanish

estudiante

/estuˈdjante/

masc.learned

Same form for men and women: el/la estudiante.

French

étudiant

/etydjɑ̃/

masc.learned

fem.: étudiante

Italian

studente

/stuˈdɛnte/

masc.learned

fem.: studentessa

lo studente, gli studenti (s + consonant)

Portuguese

estudante

/estuˈdɐ̃tʃi/

masc.learned

Romanian

student

/stuˈdent/

masc.learned

fem.: studentă

University only; a schoolchild is an elev.

Catalan

estudiant

/əstudiˈan/

masc.learned

English

student

/ˈstudənt/

from Latin/French · Latin studentem

English → Italianstudent (university)studenteCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

STUDENTEM‘one who is eager, devoted (STUDĒRE 'to be keen on')’

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

The story

Learned words got the same prop vowel as inherited ones: Spanish es-, French é- (with the s later lost), Italian bare s-. STUDĒRE first meant 'to be eager' — a student is a keen one.

English relatives: student, study, studio, studious

Sound laws at work

S + consonant at the start of a word

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esEs estudiante de medicina.
  • frElle est étudiante en médecine.
  • itÈ una studentessa di medicina.
  • ptEla é estudante de medicina.
  • roE studentă la medicină.
  • caÉs estudiant de medicina.
  • enShe is a medical student.

More in School & learning

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