"time" in seven languages
Meaningtime
Spanish
/ˈtjempo/
masc.inherited
An occasion is una vez: tres veces 'three times'.
French
/tɑ̃/
masc.inherited
The p and s are silent; une fois counts occasions.
Italian
/ˈtɛmpo/
masc.inherited
Una volta counts occasions.
Portuguese
/ˈtẽpu/
masc.inherited
Romanian
/timp/
neut.inherited
plural: timpuri
Catalan
/tems/
masc.inherited
English
/taɪm/
native English · Old English tīma
The Latin ancestor
TEMPUS‘time; weather’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
The same word means 'weather' in all three: ¿Qué tiempo hace?, Quel temps fait-il ?, Che tempo fa?
English relatives: temporary, contemporary, tempo, tense
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esHoy no tengo tiempo.
- frJe n'ai pas le temps aujourd'hui.
- itOggi non ho tempo.
- ptHoje não tenho tempo.
- roAzi n-am timp.
- caAvui no tinc temps.
- enI don't have time today.
The Latin family
TEMPUS, TEMPOR-· time
TEMPUS means both 'time' and 'weather' in all three sisters (tiempo, temps, tempo), and the stormy sense spread into its derivatives: Spanish and Italian temporal(e) is a thunderstorm. Spanish built its everyday 'early', temprano, on the same stem. Portuguese tempo and Catalan temps do the same double duty; Romanian timp is 'time', and 'weather' is vreme, a Slavic word that also means 'time'.
TEMPUStime; weather
estiempofrtempsittempopttemporotimpcatempsentempo
TEMPORĀLEMof time, temporary
estemporalfrtemporelittemporalepttemporalrotemporalcatemporalentemporal
TEMPORĀNUM (Late Latin)timely
estempranopttemporão
TEMPESTĀTEMseason; storm
estempestadfrtempêteittempestapttempestadecatempestaentempest
CONTEMPORĀNEUMof the same time
escontemporáneofrcontemporainitcontemporaneoptcontemporâneorocontemporancacontemporaniencontemporary