Similar words in Portuguese and English

Portuguese and English, two languages that may seem worlds apart, have an unexpected connection: Latin.

The Influence of Latin on Portuguese and English

Portuguese, being a Romance language, descended from Latin, and as a result, a large part of its vocabulary directly originates from Latin words. English, on the other hand, has a more complicated relationship with Latin.

While English is a Germanic language and not directly a descendant of Latin, it does have a rich Latin influence. The reason? The Norman Conquest of England in the 11th century brought many French words into English. And, French being another Romance language with Latin roots, many of those French words that entered the English language come from Latin.

So, while Portuguese has a larger Latin vocabulary than English, both languages have a fair amount of similar vocabulary.

English-Portuguese cognates derived from Latin words with -tas endings

Many Portuguese words ending in “-dade” can trace their origins back to Latin words ending in “-tas”. Interestingly, some of these Latin words have also been adopted into English through French loanwords. The “-tas” ending in Latin changed to “-té” in French, which then evolved to “-ty” in English. As a result, several Portuguese and English words share similar spellings and meanings, as they have been derived from the same Latin root.

For instance, the Portuguese word “liberdade” (meaning “freedom”) comes from the Latin “libertas”, which also gave rise to the French word “liberté” and the English word “liberty”.

Another example is the Portuguese word “cidade” (meaning “city”), which comes from the Latin “civitas”. This Latin term gave rise to the French word “cité” and the English word “city”. Likewise, the Portuguese word “quantidade” (meaning “quantity”) comes from the Latin “quantitas”, which also led to the French word “quantité” and the English word “quantity”.

Below is a table that presents instances of words in Portuguese and English that share similarities and are derived from a Latin term ending in “-tas.”

Table: Latin-derived portuguese words ending in "-dade" which are similar to Latin-derived English words ending in "-ty"
English Portuguese Latin
liberty liberdade libertas
simplicity simplicidade simplicitas
quantity quantidade quantitas
quality qualidade qualitas
security seguridade securitas
reality realidade realitas
possibility possibilidade possibilitas
university universidade universitas
celebrity celebridade celebritas
opportunity oportunidade opportunitas
credibility credibilidade credibilitas
community comunidade communitas
difficulty dificuldade difficultas
activity atividade activitas
dignity dignidade dignitas
probability probabilidade probabilitas
variety variedade varietas
utility utilidade utilitas
proximity proximidade proximitas
serenity serenidade serenitas
agility agilidade agilitas
fragility fragilidade fragilitas
morality moralidade moralitas
stability estabilidade stabilitas
vitality vitalidade vitalitas
humanity humanidade humanitas
festivity festividade festivitas
diversity diversidade diversitas
continuity continuidade continuitas
sincerity sinceridade sinceritas
property propriedade proprietas
clarity claridade claritas
immensity imensidade immensitas
sensitivity sensibilidade sensibilitas
familiarity familiaridade familiaritas
hospitality hospitalidade hospitalitas
civility civilidade civilitas
vanity vaidade vanitas
severity severidade severitas
humility humildade humilitas

Minor spelling differences among words which are similar between Portuguese and English

In addition to changes in endings, some Portuguese and English words that share common origins may have minor spelling differences. For example, double consonants in Latin words often disappear in Portuguese, as seen in terms like “oportunidade” (from “opportunitas”) and “comunidade” (from “communitas”). Conversely, English often preserves double letters from Latin words, as in “opportunity” and “community”.

Additionally, some Portuguese words may change the letter “c” to “g” or drop it altogether, as in “seguridade” (from “securitas”) and “atividade” (from “activitas”). These minor spelling differences reflect the historical evolution and adaptation of these words in each language.

English-Portuguese cognates derived from Latin words with -tio endings

Many Portuguese words that end with “-ção” can trace their origins back to Latin words that ended with “-tio”. Again, some of these Latin words have also entered English as French loanwords. In French, the “-tio” ending changed to “-tion”, which then carried over to English.

For instance, the Portuguese word “ação” (meaning “action”) comes from the Latin “actio”, which also gave rise to the French word “action” and the English word “action”. Similarly, the Portuguese word “nação” (meaning “nation”) comes from the Latin “natio”, which led to the French word “nation” and the English word “nation”.

Table: Latin-derived portuguese words ending in "-ção" which are similar to Latin-derived English words ending in "-tion"
English Portuguese Latin
perfection perfeição perfectio
communication comunicação communicatio
condition condição conditio
collection coleção collectio
production produção productio
contemplation contemplação contemplatio
prediction predição praedictio
verification verificação verificatio
accumulation acumulação accumulatio
occupation ocupação occupatio
evolution evolução evolutio
initiation iniciação initiatio
admiration admiração admiratio
justification justificação iustificatio
education educação educatio
introduction introdução introductio
celebration celebração celebratio
option opção optio
explanation explicação explicatio
edition edição editio
description descrição descriptio
satisfaction satisfação satisfactio
navigation navegação navigatio
conjugation conjugação coniugatio
imagination imaginação imaginatio
discretion discrição discretio
competition competição competitio
protection proteção protectio
solution solução solutio
institution instituição institutio
consideration consideração consideratio
translation translação translatio
modification modificação modificatio
interpretation interpretação interpretatio
abbreviation abreviação abbreviatio
generation geração generatio
conservation conservação conservatio
decoration decoração decoratio
information informação informatio

Portuguese words ending in “-ência” or “-ância”

Another group of Portuguese and English words share similarities and can be traced back to Latin terms ending in “-entia” or “-antia”. In Portuguese, these words end in “-ência” or “-ância”, while in English, they end in “-ence” or “-ance”.

This group includes many words that have similar meanings and spellings in both languages. For example, the Portuguese word “ausência” and the English word “absence” both derive from the Latin term “absentia” meaning “lack” or “nonexistence”.

Other examples include the Portuguese “importância” and the English “importance” (from the Latin term “importentia”), the Portuguese “violência” and the English “violence” (from the Latin term “violentia”).

Table: Similar words in Portuguese and English which are derived from Latin words ending in “-entia” or “-antia”
English Portuguese Latin
occurrence ocorrência occurrentia
prudence prudência prudentia
existence existência existentia
conscience consciência conscientia
arrogance arrogância arrogantia
ignorance ignorância ignorantia
consequence consequência consequentia
sequence sequência sequentia
patience paciência patientia
science ciência scientia
residence residência residentia
intelligence inteligência intelligentia
efficiency eficiência efficientia
surveillance vigilância vigilantia
absence ausência absentia
excellence excelência excellentia
experience experiência experientia
distance distância distantia
convenience conveniência convenientia
appearance aparência apparentia
circumstance circunstância circumstantia
resistance resistência resistentia

Similarities in Portuguese and English words derived from Latin adjectives ending in “-abilis”

Another group of Portuguese and English words sharing similarities can be traced back to Latin adjectives ending in “-abilis”. The Latin suffix “-abilis” gave rise to the Portuguese suffix “-ável” and the English suffix “-able”.

One such example is the Portuguese word “adorável” and its English counterpart “adorable”. Both words have the same root, which is the Latin term “adorabilis” meaning “worthy of praise or adoration”. The Portuguese word “razoável” and the English word “reasonable” also share a similar origin in the Latin term “rationabilis” meaning “rational” or “logical”.

Table: Similar words in Portuguese and English which are derived from Latin words ending in “-abilis”.
English Portuguese Latin
comparable comparável comparabilis
reasonable razoável rationabilis
durable durável durabilis
honorable honorável honorabilis
inexorable inexorável inexorabilis
abominable abominável abominabilis
intolerable intolerável intolerabilis
portable portável portabilis
mutable mutável mutabilis
stable estável stabilis
miserable miserável miserabilis
sociable sociável sociabilis
communicable comunicável communicabilis
vulnerable vulnerável vulnerabilis
impenetrable impenetrável impenetrabilis
formidable formidável formidabilis

Latin “-icus” adjectives and their derivatives in Portuguese and English

One can also observe a set of similar words in Portuguese and English that come from Latin adjectives ending in “-icus”. When both languages have derived their vocabulary from one of these Latin words, the Portuguese word usually ends in “-ico”, whereas the English word ends in “-ic”.

For example, the Latin term “historicus” gave rise to “histórico” in Portuguese and “historic” in English. Similarly, the Latin term “biologicus” became “biológico” in Portuguese and “biologic” in English. These similarities in vocabulary can be traced back to the shared Latin roots of the languages.

Table: Portuguese and English cognates derived from Latin words ending in “-icus”
English Portuguese Latin
specific específico specificus
authentic autêntico authenticus
aquatic aquático aquaticus
pacific pacífico pacificus
fanatic fanático fanaticus
exotic exótico exoticus
historic histórico historicus
public público publicus
economic económico oeconomicus
problematic problemático problematicus
scientific científico scientificus
scholastic escolástico scholasticus
honorific honorífico honorificus
atlantic atlântico atlanticus

Portuguese adverbs which are similar to English adverbs

Adverbs are another grammatical category in which there are many similar vocabulary words between Portuguese and English.

Many Portuguese adverbs, particularly those formed from adjectives, end with the suffix “-mente”, while many English adverbs end with the suffix “-ly”.

Table: Examples of Portuguese adverbs which are similar to English adverbs
English Portuguese
completely completamente
totally totalmente
recently recentemente
certainly certamente
probably provavelmente
especially especialmente
finally finalmente
extremely extremamente
immediately imediatamente
initially inicialmente
exactly exatamente
generally geralmente
absolutely absolutamente
sincerely sinceramente
properly propriamente
directly directamente
constantly constantemente
basically basicamente
partially parcialmente
curiously curiosamente
correctly corretamente
considerably consideravelmente
seriously seriamente
periodically periodicamente
eternally eternamente
exceptionally excepcionalmente
intensely intensamente
doubly duplamente
occasionally ocasionalmente
accidentally acidentalmente
consciously conscientemente
collectively coletivamente
Conclusion

Despite being two languages from different language families, Portuguese and English share many similarities, including vocabulary derived from Latin roots. Portuguese has a more extensive Latin vocabulary as a Romance language, while English, a Germanic language, has a more complex relationship with Latin. However, English adopted many French words with Latin roots through the Norman Conquest of England. As a result, there are many similar vocabulary words between Portuguese and English..