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"to hold" in seven languages

Meaningto hold

Spanish

sostener

/sosteˈneɾ/

other source · Latin SUSTINĒRE 'to hold up' (TENĒRE with a prefix)

Also sujetar.

French

tenir

/təniʁ/

inherited

Italian

tenere

/teˈnere/

inherited

Portuguese

segurar

/seɡuˈɾah/

other source · Portuguese seguro 'safe, firm' (Latin SĒCŪRUM)

Romanian

ține

/ˈtsine/

inherited

Romanian turns t before i into ț: TENĒRE → ține.

Catalan

aguantar

/əɡwənˈta/

other source · Italian agguantare 'to grab' (from guanto 'glove', of Frankish origin)

English

hold

/hoʊld/

native English · Old English healdan

English → Italianto holdtenereNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: tenant, tenacious, retain, contain.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

TENĒRE‘to hold, keep’

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

The story

French and Italian TENĒRE still means 'to hold'; Spanish tener drifted to 'to have', so holding needs a prefix: sostener, from SUSTINĒRE.

English relatives: tenant, tenacious, retain, contain

Learn it

Practice the Core verbs deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • es¿Puedes sostener esto un momento?
  • frTu peux tenir ça une seconde ?
  • itPuoi tenere questo un attimo?
  • ptVocê pode segurar isso um momento?
  • roPoți să ții asta o clipă?
  • caEm pots aguantar això un moment?
  • enCan you hold this for a moment?

More words from the same Latin

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words