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"unfortunately" in seven languages

Meaningunfortunately

Spanish

desafortunadamente

/desafoɾtunadaˈmente/

learned

In speech, por desgracia or lamentablemente are more usual.

French

malheureusement

/maløʁøzmɑ̃/

other source · malheureux 'unlucky', from heur 'luck' (Latin AUGURIUM), + -ment

Italian

sfortunatamente

/sfortunataˈmente/

learned

Purtroppo ('all too much') is the everyday word.

Portuguese

infelizmente

/ĩfelizˈmẽtʃi/

other source · infeliz 'unhappy' (Latin INFĒLĪCEM) + -mente

Romanian

din păcate

/din pəˈkate/

other source · literally 'from sins': păcat (Latin PECCĀTUM)

Catalan

malauradament

/mələwɾadəˈmen/

other source · malaurat 'unlucky' (Latin MALE AUGURĀTUM) + -ment

English

unfortunately

/ʌnˈfɔɹtʃənətli/

from Latin/French · Latin FORTŪNĀTUS, with native un- and -ly

English → ItalianunfortunatelysfortunatamenteCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

FORTŪNAM‘luck, chance’

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

The story

Spanish and Italian negate fortune; French speaks of bad heur 'luck', an old word from AUGURIUM 'omen' that survives in bonheur and malheur.

English relatives: fortune, fortunate

Sound laws at work

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In a sentence

  • esDesafortunadamente, el museo está cerrado.
  • frMalheureusement, le musée est fermé.
  • itSfortunatamente il museo è chiuso.
  • ptInfelizmente, o museu está fechado.
  • roDin păcate, muzeul este închis.
  • caMalauradament, el museu està tancat.
  • enUnfortunately, the museum is closed.

More words from the same Latin

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