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"to beat (defeat)" in seven languages

Meaningto beat (defeat)

Spanish

vencer

/benˈθeɾ/

other source · Latin VINCERE 'to conquer'

In sport, ganar a is the everyday choice: España le ganó a Francia.

French

battre

/batʁ/

inherited

Also 'to hit', 'to whisk' and, of a heart, 'to beat'.

Italian

battere

/ˈbattere/

inherited

Also 'to hit' and 'to type': battere a macchina.

Portuguese

vencer

/vẽˈseh/

other source · Latin VINCERE 'to conquer'

In football talk Brazilians also say ganhar de.

Romanian

bate

/ˈbate/

inherited

Catalan

vèncer

/ˈbɛnsə/

other source · Latin VINCERE 'to conquer'

English

beat

/bit/

native English · Old English bēatan

English → Italianto beat (defeat)battereNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: battle, battery, combat, debate (all via French).What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

BATTUERE‘to beat, to strike’

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

The story

French and Italian kept the soldier's slang verb BATTUERE; Spanish batir survives for eggs and records, but defeating someone is vencer, from VINCERE.

English relatives: battle, battery, combat, debate (all via French)

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In a sentence

  • esItalia venció a Francia dos a uno.
  • frL'Italie a battu la France deux à un.
  • itL'Italia ha battuto la Francia due a uno.
  • ptA Itália venceu a França por dois a um.
  • roItalia a bătut Franța cu doi la unu.
  • caItàlia va vèncer França per dos a un.
  • enItaly beat France two to one.

More words from the same Latin

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words