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"to look (at)" in seven languages

Meaningto look (at)

Spanish

mirar

/miˈɾaɾ/

other source · Latin MĪRĀRĪ 'to wonder at'

French

regarder

/ʁəɡaʁde/

inherited

re- + garder 'to watch over, keep'.

Italian

guardare

/ɡwarˈdare/

inherited

Portuguese

olhar

/oˈʎah/

other source · Portuguese olho 'eye' (Latin OCULUM) + -ar

Romanian

uita (se)

/ujˈta/

other source · Latin *OBLĪTĀRE 'to forget'

Reflexive se uita is 'to look'; plain uita still means 'to forget'.

Catalan

mirar

/miˈɾa/

other source · Latin MĪRĀRĪ 'to wonder at'

English

look

/lʊk/

native English · Old English lōcian

English → Italianto look (at)guardareNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: regard, guard (both via French).What English and Italian share

Watch out: false friends

  • guardar (Spanish) means “to keep, put away” · guardare (Italian) means “to look at, watch”

    Both from Germanic *wardōn 'to watch over' (English ward, guard). Italian kept the watching; Spanish, like French garder, the keeping.

All false friends

The ancestor

Frankish *wardōn‘to watch, guard’

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

The story

French and Italian look with a Germanic 'watch out' verb, Germanic w- turning into g(u)-. Spanish guardar exists but means 'to keep'; Spanish looks with mirar, from 'to marvel at' (whence English 'mirror' and 'miracle').

English relatives: regard, guard (both via French)

Sound laws at work

Germanic W- becomes gu- / g-

Learn it

Practice the Core verbs deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • es¡Mira el cielo!
  • frRegarde le ciel !
  • itGuarda il cielo!
  • ptOlha o céu!
  • roUită-te la cer!
  • caMira el cel!
  • enLook at the sky!

More words from the same Latin

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words