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"whole, entire" in seven languages

Meaningwhole, entire

Spanish

entero

/enˈteɾo/

inherited

French

entier

/ɑ̃tje/

inherited

fem.: entière

Italian

intero

/inˈtɛro/

inherited

Old Italian also had intiero, with the diphthong French kept.

Portuguese

inteiro

/ĩˈtejɾu/

inherited

Romanian

întreg

/ɨnˈtreɡ/

inherited

fem.: întreagă

Catalan

sencer

/sənˈse/

other source · Latin SINCĒRUM 'pure, unmixed'

Enter, from INTEGRUM, exists but is literary; the everyday word is sencer.

English

whole

/hoʊl/

native English · Old English hāl

'Entire' is the borrowed cognate, from Old French entier.

English → Italianwhole, entireinteroNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: entire, integer, integrity, integrate.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

INTEGRUM‘untouched, intact’

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

The story

INTEGER was 'untouched', from TANGERE 'to touch', so a whole cake is one nobody has touched yet. Mathematics borrowed the Latin unchanged: an integer is a 'whole' number.

English relatives: entire, integer, integrity, integrate

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In a sentence

  • esSe comió la tarta entera.
  • frElle a mangé le gâteau entier.
  • itHa mangiato la torta intera.
  • ptEla comeu o bolo inteiro.
  • roA mâncat tortul întreg.
  • caEs va menjar el pastís sencer.
  • enShe ate the whole cake.

More words from the same Latin

More in Describing words

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