"wise" in seven languages
Meaningwise
Spanish
sabio
/ˈsabjo/
inherited
French
sage
/saʒ/
inherited
Said of a child, sage means 'well-behaved'.
Italian
saggio
/ˈsaddʒo/
borrowed · Old French or Occitan sage
The native form savio exists but is rarer.
Portuguese
sábio
/ˈsabju/
inherited
Romanian
înțelept
/ɨntseˈlept/
other source · Latin INTELLĒCTUM 'understood'
fem.: înțeleaptă
Catalan
savi
/ˈsabi/
inherited
fem.: sàvia
English
wise
/waɪz/
native English · Old English wīs
English → ItalianwisesaggioNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: sage, sapient, Homo sapiens.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
*SAPIUM‘wise (Vulgar Latin, from SAPERE 'to taste, to know')’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
SAPERE meant 'to have a taste' before it meant 'to know' (Spanish saber): wisdom was a kind of good taste. Italian took saggio from its northern neighbours.
English relatives: sage, sapient, Homo sapiens
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esMi abuela era una mujer muy sabia.
- frMa grand-mère était une femme très sage.
- itMia nonna era una donna molto saggia.
- ptMinha avó era uma mulher muito sábia.
- roBunica mea era o femeie foarte înțeleaptă.
- caLa meva àvia era una dona molt sàvia.
- enMy grandmother was a very wise woman.
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