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"to stab" in seven languages

Meaningto stab

Spanish

apuñalar

/apuɲaˈlaɾ/

inherited

From puñal 'dagger', from puño 'fist'.

French

poignarder

/pwaɲaʁde/

inherited

From poignard 'dagger', from poing 'fist'.

Italian

pugnalare

/puɲɲaˈlare/

inherited

From pugnale 'dagger', from Late Latin PUGNĀLE.

Portuguese

apunhalar

/apuɲaˈlah/

inherited

From punhal 'dagger', from punho 'fist'.

Romanian

înjunghia

/ɨnʒunˈɡja/

other source · of disputed origin (often traced to Latin *INJUGULĀRE 'to cut the throat')

Catalan

apunyalar

/əpuɲəˈla/

inherited

From punyal 'dagger', from puny 'fist'.

English

stab

/stæb/

other source · Middle English stabbe, of uncertain origin

English → Italianto stabpugnalareNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: poniard, pugnacious, pugilist.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

PUGNUM‘fist (PUGNĀLE 'a dagger held in the fist')’

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

The story

A dagger is what you hold in your fist (PUGNUS): puñal, poignard, pugnale, punhal, punyal, each with its own spelling of GN. To stab is simply 'to dagger'; English poniard is the French word.

English relatives: poniard, pugnacious, pugilist

Sound laws at work

NN, GN and N + yod

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In a sentence

  • esEn la obra, Bruto apuñala a César.
  • frDans la pièce, Brutus poignarde César.
  • itNel dramma, Bruto pugnala Cesare.
  • ptNa peça, Bruto apunhala César.
  • roÎn piesă, Brutus îl înjunghie pe Cezar.
  • caA l'obra, Brut apunyala Cèsar.
  • enIn the play, Brutus stabs Caesar.

More words from the same Latin

More in Core verbs

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