"to doubt" in seven languages
Meaningto doubt
Spanish
/duˈdaɾ/
inherited
French
/dute/
inherited
Se douter de means 'to suspect'.
Italian
/dubiˈtare/
learned
Portuguese
/duviˈdah/
inherited
Romanian
/ɨndoˈi/
other source · în- + doi 'two': to be in two minds
Reflexive in this sense: mă îndoiesc 'I doubt'; also 'to fold in two'.
Catalan
/dupˈta/
learned
English
/daʊt/
from Latin/French · Old French douter, Latin DUBITĀRE
The silent b was put back by scribes who knew the Latin.
The Latin ancestor
DUBITĀRE‘to waver, be of two minds (DUO 'two')’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
DUBITĀRE is to waver between two (DUO). Spanish dudar and French douter wore it down, Italian took it back from books, and Romanian rebuilt the idea with its own two: se îndoi.
English relatives: dubious, indubitably
Sound laws at work
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In a sentence
- esLo dudo.
- frJ'en doute.
- itNe dubito.
- ptDuvido.
- roMă îndoiesc.
- caHo dubto.
- enI doubt it.