"tooth" in seven languages
Meaningtooth
Spanish
diente
/ˈdjente/
masc.inherited
French
dent
/dɑ̃/
fem.inherited
Italian
dente
/ˈdɛnte/
masc.inherited
Portuguese
dente
/ˈdẽtʃi/
masc.inherited
Romanian
dinte
/ˈdinte/
masc.inherited
plural: dinți
Catalan
dent
/den/
fem.inherited
Feminine, like French: la dent.
English
tooth
/tuθ/
Indo-European kin · PIE *h₃dónts
plural: teeth
English → ItaliantoothdenteDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: dental, dentist, indent.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
DENTEM‘tooth’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spanish broke the open e into ie even before two consonants (diente); Italian did not (dente); French nasalised en to ɑ̃ — and made the tooth feminine, la dent.
English relatives: dental, dentist, indent
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- es¡Lávate los dientes!
- frBrosse-toi les dents !
- itLavati i denti!
- ptVai escovar os dentes!
- roSpală-te pe dinți!
- caRenta't les dents!
- enBrush your teeth!