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"towards" in seven languages

Meaningtowards

Spanish

hacia

/ˈaθja/

other source · Old Spanish faza 'facing', from faz 'face' (FACIEM) + a

French

vers

/vɛʁ/

inherited

Italian

verso

/ˈvɛrso/

inherited

Portuguese

em direção a

/ẽj diɾeˈsɐ̃w a/

other source · direção, from Latin DĪRĒCTIŌNEM 'direction' (learned)

For movement, plain para often does the job: foi para a porta.

Romanian

spre

/spre/

other source · Latin SUPER 'over, above'

Catalan

cap a

/kap ə/

other source · cap 'head, end' (Latin CAPUT) + a

English

towards

/təˈwɔɹdz/

Indo-European kin · PIE *wer- 'to turn'

American English prefers toward; the -ward part shares its root with VERSUS.

English → ItaliantowardsversoDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: versus, version, reverse.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

VERSUS‘turned towards (from VERTERE 'to turn')’

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

The story

French and Italian are 'turned toward' (VERSUS) — the same Indo-European root as English -ward. Spanish faces its target instead: hacia grew out of faz 'face'.

English relatives: versus, version, reverse

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In a sentence

  • esFue hacia la puerta.
  • frIl est allé vers la porte.
  • itÈ andato verso la porta.
  • ptEle foi em direção à porta.
  • roS-a dus spre ușă.
  • caVa anar cap a la porta.
  • enHe went towards the door.

More words from the same Latin

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