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"to mean" in seven languages

Meaningto mean

Spanish

significar

/signifiˈkaɾ/

learned

Speech also says querer decir 'to want to say'.

French

signifier

/siɲifje/

learned

Speech prefers vouloir dire: Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire ?

Italian

significare

/siɲɲifiˈkare/

learned

Speech also says voler dire: Che vuol dire?

Portuguese

significar

/siɡnifiˈkah/

learned

In speech querer dizer 'to want to say' is just as common.

Romanian

însemna

/ɨnsemˈna/

other source · în + semn 'sign' (Latin SIGNUM)

Catalan

voler dir

/buˈlɛ di/

other source · voler 'to want' (spoken Latin *VOLĒRE) + dir 'to say' (Latin DĪCERE)

English

mean

/min/

native English · Old English mǣnan

English → Italianto meansignificareNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: signify, significant, significance, sign.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

SIGNIFICĀRE‘to show by signs (SIGNUM + FACERE)’

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

The story

The bookish verb is the same in all four (English signify), but each sister also says 'to want to say': querer decir, vouloir dire, voler dire.

English relatives: signify, significant, significance, sign

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In a sentence

  • es¿Qué significa esta palabra?
  • frQue signifie ce mot ?
  • itChe cosa significa questa parola?
  • ptO que significa esta palavra?
  • roCe înseamnă cuvântul ăsta?
  • caQuè vol dir aquesta paraula?
  • enWhat does this word mean?

More words from the same Latin

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words