Derretir and Trite
- Posted by Morgan
- on
- in True Spanish Etymology Stories
Derretir (Spanish for “to melt”) comes from the Latin terere, “to rub, wear down.” That which is melted is worn down, after all.
Some interesting words we get from the same root in English include:
- Trite. What is something trite if not, something that is worn down by overusage, figuratively?
- Contrite is when you use so few words, that your sentences are worn away!
- Attrition occurs when your employees are worn away, bit by bit
- Detriment is basically the worn out remains!
- Tribulations are really when you are worn down by your troubles!
We can see the r-t root in all these variations.
- See more of this pattern: True Spanish Etymology Stories
Hablar and Ineffable
- Posted by Morgan
- on
- in Initial F to H
The Spanish hablar (“to talk”) comes from the Latin fabulare, as we’ve previously discussed. The initial F- turned into an H- happens only in Spanish (think fig vs higo.)
From the same root, however, also comes the English ineffable, that SAT word meaning “unable to be described in words.” So, ineffable literally means “without” (in-) and “speaking” (fabulare).
We see the h-b-l of hablar map to the (in-)f-b-l of ineffable quite clearly!
- See more of this pattern: Initial F to H
Bajo – Base
The Spanish bajo, for “low”, sounds unlike the similar words in English…. except for base.
Think about base as the core foundation or support — the lowest thing holding everything else up — or even in the old Shakespearean sense of “vile”, “the basest weed” — the connection makes much more sense.
Both come from the Latin basis (meaning, “foundation”) — from which we also get the same English, basis.
And think of the bass cleff in music, for the lower notes, as well.
The surprising connection is explained easily when we understand that a lot of sh- and si- and related sounds in Latin turned into j- in Spanish. Thus, the b-s maps to b-j almost exactly.
Nube – Nuance
- Posted by Morgan
- on
- in True Spanish Etymology Stories
It is obvious that nube (spanish for “cloud”), and its cousin nebuloso (“cloudy”), are related to the English nebulous: a SAT word meaning “unclear”, just like the sky is when it’s cloudy. This one is easy.
But did you realize that nube is also related to the English nuance?
Nuance comes from the Latin nubes, meaning “cloud” – from which we also get the almost-identical Spanish word.
Although this is less obvious, we can see the pattern here: a nuance is a slight shade of meaning, just as the cloud adds a slight shade to the sky.
Nuances, therefore, by definition, stop the clarity of sunshine from shining in, and cloud our judgments!
- See more of this pattern: True Spanish Etymology Stories
Revancha and Vindicate
- Posted by Morgan
- on
- in True Spanish Etymology Stories
The Spanish revancha (“revenge”) comes from the Latin vindicare, meaning — surprisingly — “to vindicate.”
Revenge, after all, is just one way to vindicate yourself!
If we remember the reinforcing re– prefix, we can see that the v-n-ch of revancha maps to the v-n-(d)-c of vindicate.
- See more of this pattern: True Spanish Etymology Stories
Asqueroso and Scar
- Posted by Morgan
- on
- in True Spanish Etymology Stories
Asqueroso is the common Spanish word meaning “disgusting.” ¡Qué asqueroso! is the common Spanish exclamation of disgust, as is its closely-related cousin, ¡Que asco!
Asqueroso (and asco) come from the Latin eschara, meaning, “scab” (which itself is from the Greek eskhara meaning the same).
From the same Latin (and Greek) root, we also get the English… scar.
So, in Spanish, something that is so disgusting literally scars you!
We can see the mapping in the s-qu-r of asqueroso to the s-c-r of scar.
- See more of this pattern: True Spanish Etymology Stories
what is the etymological way to learn spanish?
Nerds love to pattern-match, to find commonalities among everything. Our approach to learning languages revolves (the same -volve- that is in “volver”, to “return”) around connecting the Spanish words to the related English words via their common etymologies – to find the linguistic patterns, because these patterns become easy triggers to remember what words mean. Want to know more? Email us and ask:
morgan@westegg.com
patterns to help us learn spanish:
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