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"thin (person)" in seven languages

Meaningthin (person)

Spanish

delgado

/delˈgado/

other source · Latin DĒLICĀTUM 'delicate'

Magro exists, but means 'lean' (meat).

French

maigre

/mɛgʁ/

inherited

Can sound negative, 'skinny'; mince is 'slim'.

Italian

magro

/ˈmagro/

inherited

Portuguese

magro

/ˈmaɡɾu/

inherited

Romanian

slab

/slab/

other source · Old Church Slavonic slabŭ 'weak'

Slab also means 'weak'; the inherited cousin of MACRUM is lost.

Catalan

prim

/pɾim/

other source · Latin PRĪMUM 'first', which came to mean 'fine, thin'

Magre exists but is mostly 'lean' (meat).

English

thin

/θɪn/

native English · Old English þynne

English → Italianthin (person)magroNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: meagre (via French), emaciated.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

MACRUM‘lean, thin’

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

The story

French and Italian kept Latin MACRUM; Spanish chose delgado, the inherited doublet of learned delicado. English meagre is the French word, borrowed.

English relatives: meagre (via French), emaciated

Sound laws at work

Voiceless stops between vowels soften

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In a sentence

  • esEstá muy delgado.
  • frIl est très maigre.
  • itÈ molto magro.
  • ptEle está muito magro.
  • roE foarte slab.
  • caEstà molt prim.
  • enHe's very thin.

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