Patterns Archives - Page 5 of 10 - Spanish Etymology, Learning Spanish

Jeringa – Syringe

Posted by Morgan
on May 23, 2026
in Patterns, SH to J

Jeringa, Spanish for Syringe, sounds like it has nothing in common with its English counter-part. But they are literally the same word.

The Latin sh- sound often evolved into the j- sound in Spanish — originally retaining the sh- sound but eventually, under Arabic’s influence, transforming to the throat-clearing sound we know and love.

This explains how both jeringa and syringe derive from the same root: the Latin siringa, itself from the Greek syringa. The sy- sound is a variation of the sh- sound and therefore the sy-r-n-g of syringe maps to the j-r-n-g of jeringa.

See more of this pattern: Patterns, SH to J

Humo and Fumes

Posted by Morgan
on May 20, 2026
in Initial F to H, Patterns

If he is fuming, he is smoking — literally. And it is, subtly, the same word in Spanish.

“To fume” comes from the Latin root fumus (“smoke”) from which we also get the common Spanish word for “smoke”, humo. But they don’t sound alike, so how are they related?

The Spanish humo is a great example of the pattern of the Initial F turning into an H in Spanish, alone among the languages of the world. Many Latin words that began with an F that came to us in English through the Latinate F form, became the equivalent word but with an H- in Spanish. Take hermano and filial, for example. Or fact and hecho.

Other English words from the same root fumus include fumigation (ahhhh!) and the less common fetid. Fetid is a dirty, Shakespearean word, after all.

See more of this pattern: Initial F to H, Patterns

Jerez – Sherry

Posted by Morgan
on May 18, 2026
in Patterns, SH to J

The Latin sounds for “sh” — and similar variations, like “ch” and “ss” — became a “j” sound in Spanish.

Thus, the English sherry is nearly identical to the Spanish jerez!

These sh/j sounds were often spelled with a “x” in old Spanish; and sherry itself is named after the town it first came from, Xeres, which is near Cordova.

See more of this pattern: Patterns, SH to J

Perejil and Parsley

Posted by Morgan
on May 16, 2026
in Patterns, SH to J

Perejil and its English version parsley sound very different. But they are, actually, etymologically the same word.

They sound different because often the -s- and -sh- sounds in Spanish turned into the letter -j- with the Arabic throat-clearing sound as a pronunciation. Thus, the p-r-j-l of perejil maps exactly to the p-r-s-l of parsley.

See more of this pattern: Patterns, SH to J

Estrella Fugaz and Fugitive

Posted by Morgan
on May 15, 2026
in Initial F to H, Patterns

A “shooting star” in Spanish is an estrella fugaz. Since estrella means “star”, then fugaz is the parallel to “shooting.”

Fugaz comes from the Latin fugere which means, “to run away; flee” — from which we get the English fugitive.

The mapping is obvious with the f-g retained in both versions.

Thus, in Spanish, a shooting star is literally, a fleeing star. But fleeing from what?

See more of this pattern: Initial F to H, Patterns

Hechizo and Fetish

Posted by Morgan
on May 14, 2026
in Patterns

The Spanish hechizo (“spell”; nothing to do with the letters in words, but what a witch casts on you!) comes from the Latin facticius (“made by art”; “artificial”—indeed, that which is artificial is just something not occurring naturally, but instead made by art!)

But how did “artificial” change to mean “spell”? Think about it this way: casting a spell goes against nature—it’s what the wicked, crazy and profoundly unnatural woman does! Think of the three weird sisters in Macbeth, and how they unnaturally stir up all the elements!

From hechizo (more specifically, from its Portuguese twin cognate, feitiço), we get the English “fetish”. How? Well, you have a fetish when the recipient casts a spell on you to become obsessed with the object of your fetish, right? Enough said!

That root facticius turned into hechizo by changing via two common patterns: the initial “f” in Latin tended to turn into an “h”, as Latin turned into Spanish (compare fig and higo, or fume and humo!), and the -ct- tended to change to a -ch- (compare noche and nocturnal; or ocho and octagon). Thus the h-ch of hechizo maps to the f-sh of “fetish”.

See more of this pattern: Patterns

Hervir and Fever

Posted by Morgan
on May 13, 2026
in Initial F to H, Patterns

Hervir (Spanish for, “to boil”) comes from the Latin fervere (“to be hot, burn, boil”).

The best part: from this same root, we also get the English… fever!

Thus, this is another example of the pattern where Spanish lost the initial F and replaced it with the (unspoken) “H”: Hoja-Foliage, Huir-Fugitive, etc.

See more of this pattern: Initial F to H, Patterns

Sueño and Insomnia

Posted by Morgan
on May 11, 2026
in MN to Ñ, Patterns

Sueño (Spanish for “dream”) and insomnia come from the same root: the Latin somnus, meaning, “sleep.”

The evolution is easy to spot if we remember that the -mn- sound in Latin usually transformed into the ñ in Spanish. See damn and daño, for example. Or autumn and otoño as well.

Thus, the s-mn of insomnia maps to the s-ñ of, sueño.

See more of this pattern: MN to Ñ, Patterns

Cuñado and Cognate

Posted by Morgan
on May 10, 2026
in GN to Ñ, Patterns

Cuñado, Spanish for “brother-in-law,” comes from the Latin cognatus, from which we get the near-identical English cognate. How can two words so similar mean something so different?

The Latin root cognatus itself came from the roots com– (meaning “together”) and gnasci (meaning “to be born”); thus, literally, “born together.” So, two words that are cognates are — etymologically-speaking — words that are born together. And brothers-in-law are two men who are not brothers but were, in effect at least, born together as well.

Note also that this is an example of the pattern whereby Latin words with a -gn- generally became an ñ in Spanish. Thus the c-gn-t of cognate maps to the c-ñ-d of cuñado.

See more of this pattern: GN to Ñ, Patterns

Puñal and Pugnacious

Posted by Morgan
on May 8, 2026
in GN to Ñ, Patterns

The English for eager-to-fight, pugnacious, contains the -gn- pattern inside it: a give-away to the pattern that -gn- words in Latin turned the -gn- into a -ñ- in Spanish yet remained the same into English.

Therefore, pugnacious maps perfectly to puñal, the Spanish for… “dagger.” It makes sense that “dagger” and “eager to fight” come from the same root, after all. And that root, in this case, is the Latin pugnare, meaning, “to fight.”

See more of this pattern: GN to Ñ, Patterns

Learning Spanish & Etymology Pattern-Matching for Nerds

Jeringa – Syringe

Humo and Fumes

Jerez – Sherry

Perejil and Parsley

Estrella Fugaz and Fugitive

Hechizo and Fetish

Hervir and Fever

Sueño and Insomnia

Cuñado and Cognate

Puñal and Pugnacious

what is the etymological way to learn spanish?

patterns to help us learn spanish:

Buy the Book!

For Nerds Learning Spanish via Etymologies

Previous Posts

Want To Know More?

Buy the book!