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"to watch, look at" in seven languages

Meaningto watch, look at

Spanish

mirar

/miˈɾaɾ/

other source · Latin MĪRĀRĪ 'to wonder at'

Watching TV or a film is usually ver: ver la tele.

French

regarder

/ʁəgaʁde/

inherited

re- + garder 'to guard, keep'.

Italian

guardare

/gwarˈdare/

inherited

Portuguese

olhar

/oˈʎah/

other source · Portuguese olho 'eye' (Latin OCULUM)

Guardar, from the same Frankish verb as regarder, means 'to keep' in Portuguese.

Romanian

se uita

/se ujˈta/

other source · Latin *OBLĪTĀRE 'to forget'

Without se, uita means 'to forget'.

Catalan

mirar

/miˈɾa/

other source · Latin MĪRĀRĪ 'to wonder at'

English

watch

/wɑtʃ/

native English · Old English wæccan 'to stay awake'

English → Italianto watch, look atguardareNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: guard, regard, reward; native ward.What English and Italian share

Watch out: false friends

  • guardar (Spanish) means “to keep, put away” · guardare (Italian) means “to look at, watch”

    Both from Germanic *wardōn 'to watch over' (English ward, guard). Italian kept the watching; Spanish, like French garder, the keeping.

All false friends

The ancestor

Frankish *wardōn‘to guard, watch over’

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

The story

A Germanic guard's verb: Frankish w- became gu- in Italian guardare and g- in French (re)garder. Spanish 'looks in wonder' (MĪRĀRĪ), the root of miracle and mirror.

English relatives: guard, regard, reward; native ward

Sound laws at work

Germanic W- becomes gu- / g-

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In a sentence

  • esEstán mirando los barcos del puerto.
  • frIls regardent les bateaux dans le port.
  • itGuardano le barche nel porto.
  • ptEstão olhando os barcos no porto.
  • roSe uită la bărcile din port.
  • caEstan mirant les barques del port.
  • enThey are watching the boats in the harbor.

More words from the same Latin

More in Core verbs

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