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"various, several" in seven languages

Meaningvarious, several

Spanish

varios

/ˈbaɾjos/

learned

fem.: varias

French

divers

/divɛʁ/

other source · Latin DĪVERSUS 'turned different ways'

fem.: diverses

Before a noun, divers means 'various'; plusieurs is 'several'.

Italian

vari

/ˈvari/

learned

fem.: varie

The inherited outcome of VARIUS survives as vaio 'dark-spotted'.

Portuguese

vários

/ˈvaɾjus/

learned

Romanian

mai mulți

/maj multsʲ/

other source · Romanian mai 'more' (Latin MAGIS) + mult 'much' (Latin MULTUM)

fem.: mai multe

Catalan

diversos

/diˈbɛɾsus/

other source · Latin DĪVERSUS 'turned different ways'

Diversos is the normative choice; varis is heard but frowned on.

English

various

/ˈvɛɹiəs/

from Latin/French · Latin VARIUS

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

The Latin ancestor

VARIUM‘spotted, many-coloured, diverse’

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

The story

Latin VARIUS first described a speckled coat; 'many colours' became 'many kinds'. Italian also kept the worn-down popular form vaio, but only for spotted fur.

English relatives: vary, variety, variable, variation

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In a sentence

  • esProbamos varios restaurantes.
  • frNous avons essayé divers restaurants.
  • itAbbiamo provato vari ristoranti.
  • ptExperimentamos vários restaurantes.
  • roAm încercat mai multe restaurante.
  • caVam provar diversos restaurants.
  • enWe tried various restaurants.

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