"window" in seven languages
Meaningwindow
Spanish
ventana
/benˈtana/
fem.other source · derived from viento 'wind' (Latin VENTUM)
French
fenêtre
/fənɛtʁ/
fem.inherited
Italian
finestra
/fiˈnɛstra/
fem.inherited
Portuguese
janela
/ʒaˈnɛlɐ/
fem.other source · Latin *IANUELLA, diminutive of IANUA 'door'
Romanian
fereastră
/feˈre̯astrə/
fem.inherited
Catalan
finestra
/fiˈnɛstɾə/
fem.inherited
English
window
/ˈwɪndoʊ/
native English · Old Norse vindauga
Window is Old Norse vindauga, "wind-eye".
English → ItalianwindowfinestraNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: defenestration; vent, ventilate (VENTUM).What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
FENESTRAM‘window’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
French lost the s before t and marked it with a circumflex (fenêtre), while Italian keeps finestra. Spanish named its window after the wind it lets in — like English window, 'wind-eye'.
English relatives: defenestration; vent, ventilate (VENTUM)
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esAbre la ventana, hace calor.
- frOuvre la fenêtre, il fait chaud.
- itApri la finestra, fa caldo.
- ptAbre a janela, está calor.
- roDeschide fereastra, e cald.
- caObre la finestra, que fa calor.
- enOpen the window, it's hot.