"to open" in seven languages
Meaningto open
Spanish
abrir
/aˈbɾiɾ/
inherited
French
ouvrir
/uvʁiʁ/
inherited
Its ou- (instead of a-) is usually blamed on its opposite, couvrir 'to cover' (COOPERĪRE).
Italian
aprire
/aˈprire/
inherited
Portuguese
abrir
/aˈbɾih/
inherited
Romanian
deschide
/desˈkide/
other source · Latin DISCLŪDERE 'to unshut'
Catalan
obrir
/uˈbɾi/
inherited
English
open
/ˈoʊpən/
native English · Old English openian
English → Italianto openaprireNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: aperture, aperitif.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
APERĪRE‘to open’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
The p between vowels shows the lenition ladder: kept in Italian aprire, voiced in Spanish abrir, turned to v in French ouvrir.
English relatives: aperture, aperitif
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esAbre la ventana, por favor.
- frOuvre la fenêtre, s'il te plaît.
- itApri la finestra, per favore.
- ptAbre a janela, por favor.
- roDeschide fereastra, te rog.
- caObre la finestra, si us plau.
- enOpen the window, please.