"to put" in seven languages
Meaningto put
Spanish
/poˈneɾ/
other source · Latin PŌNERE 'to place'
Spanish meter (← MITTERE) is 'to put in, insert'.
French
/mɛtʁ/
inherited
Italian
/ˈmettere/
inherited
Porre (← PŌNERE) also exists, mostly in set phrases (porre una domanda).
Portuguese
/poh/
other source · Latin PŌNERE 'to place'
Romanian
/ˈpune/
other source · Latin PŌNERE 'to place'
Catalan
/puˈza/
other source · Latin PAUSĀRE 'to stop, rest'
English
/pʊt/
native English · Old English *putian
The Latin ancestor
MITTERE‘to send, let go’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
French and Italian 'put' by sending: MITTERE meant 'to let go, send'. Spanish kept PŌNERE 'to place', whose family gives English position and deposit.
English relatives: mission, transmit, emit, permit (MITTERE); position, deposit, opponent (PŌNERE)
Learn it
In a sentence
- esPonlo en la mesa.
- frMets-le sur la table.
- itMettilo sul tavolo.
- ptPõe na mesa.
- roPune-l pe masă.
- caPosa-ho a la taula.
- enPut it on the table.