"to receive" in seven languages
Meaningto receive
Spanish
recibir
/reθiˈbiɾ/
inherited
French
recevoir
/ʁəsəvwaʁ/
inherited
Spoken Latin moved the verb to the -ĒRE class, hence -oir like voir.
Italian
ricevere
/riˈtʃevere/
inherited
Portuguese
receber
/heseˈbeh/
inherited
Romanian
primi
/priˈmi/
other source · Slavic primiti 'to receive'
Catalan
rebre
/ˈrɛbɾə/
inherited
RECIPERE lost its middle syllable: *recipre → rebre.
English
receive
/ɹɪˈsiv/
from Latin/French · Anglo-Norman receivre
English → Italianto receivericevereCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
RECIPERE‘to take back, receive’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
The P between vowels softened to b in Spanish and to v in French and Italian. English recipe is the Latin command 'take!' that headed old prescriptions.
English relatives: receipt, reception, recipient, recipe
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- es¿Has recibido mi mensaje?
- frTu as reçu mon message ?
- itHai ricevuto il mio messaggio?
- ptVocê recebeu a minha mensagem?
- roAi primit mesajul meu?
- caHas rebut el meu missatge?
- enDid you receive my message?
More in Core verbs
- to sendenviarenvoyermandaremandartrimiteenviar
- to be worthvalervaloirvalerevalermeritavaler
- to provide, to supplyproporcionarfournirfornireforneceroferiproporcionar
- to followseguirsuivreseguireseguirurmaseguir
- to save (to rescue)salvarsauversalvaresalvarsalvasalvar
- to addañadirajouteraggiungereacrescentaradăugaafegir