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"to encourage" in seven languages

Meaningto encourage

Spanish

animar

/aniˈmaɾ/

other source · Latin ANIMĀRE 'to give life', from ANIMA 'breath, soul'

Alentar is a more literary synonym.

French

encourager

/ɑ̃kuʁaʒe/

inherited

Built on courage.

Italian

incoraggiare

/inkoradˈdʒare/

borrowed · built on coraggio, from Old French corage / Old Occitan coratge

Portuguese

encorajar

/ẽkoɾaˈʒah/

borrowed · French encourager

Incentivar and animar are just as common in Brazil.

Romanian

încuraja

/ɨnkuraˈʒa/

borrowed · French encourager

Catalan

encoratjar

/əŋkuɾəˈdʒa/

inherited

Coratge shows the native Catalan outcome of -ATICUM, -atge; animar is the everyday alternative.

English

encourage

/ɪnˈkɝɪdʒ/

from Latin/French · Old French encoragier

English → Italianto encourageincoraggiareCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

*CORĀTICUM (spoken Latin, from COR 'heart')‘heart, spirit’

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

The story

French and Italian put heart into you: the courage words grew from COR 'heart' in Gallo-Romance, and Italian took coraggio from there. Spanish animar puts soul in you instead.

English relatives: courage, cordial

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In a sentence

  • esMis padres siempre me animaron.
  • frMes parents m'ont toujours encouragé.
  • itI miei genitori mi hanno sempre incoraggiato.
  • ptMeus pais sempre me encorajaram.
  • roPărinții m-au încurajat mereu.
  • caEls meus pares sempre m'han encoratjat.
  • enMy parents always encouraged me.

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words