We’ve previously discussed cuerno (Spanish for horn) and its related Spanish words–and here’s another: cornucopia, which literally means… the “horn of plenty.” We see the h‑r-n map to the c‑r-n again here!
on Jan 1, 2021The 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.”
on Jan 1, 2021Superseer (Spanish for, “to discontinue; cease”) comes from the Latin supersedere which in term is a combination of the prefix super- (“above”) and sedere (“to sit”). When you stop doing something — you’re now, literally, sitting on top of it. At least in Spanish.
From the Latin sedere root, we get various English words related to sitting, including:
From the same Latin root sedere we also get the Spanish… asiento, the common word for, seat. Now that makes sense, doesn’t it?
The s‑n-t/d root is visible in most of these words. Note that in superseer, the middle ‑n- disappeared: hence the ‑e- on both sides!
on Dec 31, 2020Asunto (Spanish for “subject,” in the sense of, “theme”) come from the Latin for the same, assumptus (“taken”) — from which we get the almost identical English, assume.
Interestingly, assumption originally had a fully religious connotation, something we often forget or I sometimes vaguely remember today: you’re received into heaven. An assumption, in its modern sense, is really just a religious belief actually!
The Latin root assumptus itself comes from ad- (“up, to”) and sumere (“to take”) — so when you assume, you’re really “taking it up”!
The a‑s-t of asunto maps clearly to the a‑ss-(m)-t of assumption.
on Dec 30, 2020Charlar (Spanish for “to chat”) comes from the Italian ciarla — as does the English… charlatan. We can see the ch-r‑l root in both easily.
Interestingly, the English word has taken a negative turn while the Spanish, not so much. I would attribute this to the Anglo-Saxon culture’s looking down onto talk without action, while the Latin culture’s focus on talk even if it means inaction.
Also from the same root is the English, charade. Charade, like charlatan, contains the negative connotations of the appearance, not reality.
on Dec 30, 2020