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"visitor" in seven languages

Meaningvisitor

Spanish

visitante

/bisiˈtante/

masc.learned

Same form for women: la visitante. A visit is una visita.

French

visiteur

/vizitœʁ/

masc.learned

fem.: visiteuse

Italian

visitatore

/vizitaˈtore/

masc.learned

fem.: visitatrice

Portuguese

visitante

/viziˈtɐ̃tʃi/

masc.learned

Romanian

vizitator

/vizitaˈtor/

masc.learned

Catalan

visitant

/biziˈtan/

masc.learned

English

visitor

/ˈvɪzɪtɚ/

from Latin/French · Anglo-French visitour

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

The Latin ancestor

VĪSITĀRE‘to go to see (often), from VIDĒRE 'to see'’

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

The story

Each sister builds 'one who visits' its own way: Spanish with the participle ending -ante, French and Italian with the agent ending -eur / -tore.

English relatives: visit, vision, visa

Sound laws at work

B and V merge in Spanish

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esEl museo recibe muchos visitantes.
  • frLe musée reçoit beaucoup de visiteurs.
  • itIl museo ha molti visitatori.
  • ptO museu recebe muitos visitantes.
  • roMuzeul are mulți vizitatori.
  • caEl museu té molts visitants.
  • enThe museum has many visitors.

The Latin family

VID-, VĪS-· see

VIDĒRE lost its middle in Spanish (Old Spanish veer → ver) and French (voir) but kept it in Italian vedere. The sisters built new spoken participles — *VĪSTA behind vista, *VIDŪTA behind French vue — while classical VĪSUM fed the learned words. Catalan veure turned the d into u; Romanian vedea kept it, like Italian.

  • VIDĒREto see

    esverfrvoiritvedereptverrovedeacaveure

  • *VĪSTAMsight (spoken-Latin participle)

    esvistafrvueitvistaptvistacavistaenvista

  • VĪSIŌNEMsight, vision

    esvisiónfrvisionitvisioneptvisãoroviziunecavisióenvision

  • VĪSITĀREto go to see

    esvisitarfrvisiteritvisitareptvisitarrovizitacavisitarenvisit

  • PROVIDĒREto foresee, provide for

    esproveerfrpourvoiritprovvedereptprovercaproveirenprovide

  • ĒVIDENTEMplain to see

    esevidentefrévidentitevidenteptevidenteroevidentcaevidentenevident

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