"way (manner)" in seven languages
Meaningway (manner)
Spanish
/maˈneɾa/
fem.borrowed · probably Old Occitan maniera or Old French maniere
Modo and forma are everyday synonyms.
French
/manjɛʁ/
fem.inherited
From Old French manier 'handy, skilful'.
Italian
/maˈnjɛra/
fem.borrowed · Old French maniere / Old Occitan maniera
Modo is the more common word: in questo modo.
Portuguese
/maˈnejɾɐ/
fem.borrowed · probably Old Occitan maneira or Old French maniere
Romanian
/fel/
neut.other source · Hungarian fél 'kind, sort'
Catalan
/məˈneɾə/
fem.borrowed · probably Old Occitan maneira
English
/weɪ/
native English · Old English weg
The Latin ancestor
MANUĀRIUM (spoken Latin)‘of the hand, handy’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
A 'way' of doing things was once a 'handling': the word grew in Gallo-Romance from MANUS 'hand' and spread to Spanish and Italian. English borrowed the same French word as manner.
English relatives: manner (via French), manual, manufacture
Learn it
In a sentence
- esNo me hables de esa manera.
- frNe me parle pas de cette manière.
- itNon parlarmi in questa maniera.
- ptNão fale comigo dessa maneira.
- roNu-mi vorbi în felul ăsta.
- caNo em parlis d'aquesta manera.
- enDon't talk to me that way.