# Languages that have similar words for wind and window.



## relativamente

According to Etymonline the word window is derived from wind.
Also ventana (Spanish) is derived from ventus, meaning wind.
Latin fenestra derives from the root ΦΑΝ
My questions are.First question : does this root ΦΑΝ mean also wind?
and second : Are there other languages that use  the word for wind to derive also the word for window?


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## kloie

Not that I can think of not in Slavic,other Germanic,not in Persian and maybe not in Arabic.


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## bibax

_Window_ is derived from _wind eye_, Old Norse vindauga.

Slavic _okno_ (= window) is from _oko_ (= eye).
Originally okno was an oval hole between two beams.


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## Johannes

In Dutch: wind and venster ( IN French: vent and fenetre?)
The portuguese word "janela" also derives from the latim fenestra.


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## er targyn

relativamente said:


> Latin fenestra derives from the root ΦΑΝ


It might be an Etruscan loan.


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## relativamente

Johannes said:


> The portuguese word "janela" also derives from the latim fenestra.


I do not think portuguese janela derives from fenestra. I am not sure but maybe is a diminutive from janua, meaning door.I do not have an etymological dictionary of portuguese but I think it is eassy to confirm or to reject.


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## apmoy70

er targyn said:


> It might be an Etruscan loan.


Yes according to prof. Babiniotis it is probably of Etruscan origin. In Greek «παράθυρο» (pa'raθiro _n._) from Hellenistic «παραθύριον» (pără'tʰŭrīŏn _n._) or «παραθύρα» (pără'tʰūră _f._)-->init. _wicket, side-door_ later _window_ ≠ «ἄνεμος» ('ănĕmŏs _m._), «άνεμος» ('anemos _m._ in Modern Greek)-->_wind._


bibax said:


> _Window_ is derived from _wind eye_, Old Norse vindauga.
> 
> Slavic _okno_ (= window) is from _oko_ (= eye).
> Originally okno was an oval hole between two beams.


We call this (oval or round hole between two beams) in Greek «φινιστρίνι» (fini'strini _n._) a loan word from Italian or Venetian. It's Jackspeak (navy slang) with its ancient name being «παραφωτίς» (părăpʰō'tīs _f._)-->lit. _side-lighter_ (usually a small opening fitted with grating). Again «παραφωτίς» (părăpʰō'tīs _f._) ≠ «ἄνεμος» ('ănĕmŏs _m._), «άνεμος» ('anemos _m._ in Modern Greek)-->_wind._


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## PABLO DE SOTO

Danish

Vind ( Wind)

Vindue ( Window)


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## Frank06

relativamente said:


> I do not think portuguese janela derives from fenestra. I am not sure but maybe is a diminutive from janua, meaning door.I do not have an etymological dictionary of portuguese but I think it is eassy to confirm or to reject.


Da Cunha's _Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa_ confirms your explanation:
janela < do Latim vulgar *januella, dimin. de janua.
I could find _fenestrado_ ("que tem janela") and _fenestral_, but given the dates in the same dictionary (resp. 1858, XIX), these look like reloans from Latin.

Frank


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## Johannes

Frank06 said:


> Da Cunha's _Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa_ confirms your explanation:
> janela < do Latim vulgar *januella, dimin. de janua.
> I could find _fenestrado_ ("que tem janela") and _fenestral_, but given the dates in the same dictionary (resp. 1858, XIX), these look like reloans from Latin.


 
In pt.wiktionary it is claimed that janela derives from fenestra. 
It seems far more plausable to me too that it comes from januella


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## CapnPrep

Johannes said:


> In pt.wiktionary it is claimed that janela derives from fenestra.


That is not true: Someone added the correct etymology today, but before that there was never anything in this entry about the origin of the word.


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## Outsider

If I'm not mistaken, _janua_ is etymologically related to Janus, the two-faced Roman god of gates and beginnings. 

Although Wikipedia gives other etymologies, the Online Etymology Dictionary seems to agree with this idea.


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## Johannes

CapnPrep said:


> That is not true: .


You are right : I misread wiktionary.


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## terredepomme

> If I'm not mistaken, janua is etymologically related to Janus, the two-faced Roman god of gates and beginnings.



And also the beginning month of the year, January.
Sorry if too off-topic...


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## er targyn

If I'm not mistaken, Romans' first month wasn't January.


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## xari

*Moderator note: Split from here.*

Is it accurate that the Russian word for window окно is a borrowing from Old Scandinavian vindr+*auga* ("eye towards the wind") which gives English window; while at the same time the Russian word for eye глаз is cognates with the Old Norse/Icelandic word for window gluggi? Or in other words, eye is window and window is eye?


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## NorwegianNYC

xari said:


> Is it accurate that the Russian word for window окно is a borrowing from Old Scandinavian vindr+*auga* (eye of the wind) which gives English window; while at the same time the Russian word for eye глаз is cognates with the Old Norse/Icelandic word for window gluggi? Or in other words, eye is window and window is eye?


No. Window is (as you quite correctly point out) from vindr+auga, but it does not mean "eye of the wind", it means "eye towards the wind", and "wind" here is a reference to the outside. Actually, the term originally referred to an overhead smoke vent (hole) in the roof. However, the word caught on, and is the main word in English, Norwegian (_vindu_), Danish (_vindue_), and in dialectal Swedish (_vindu_).


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## DenisBiH

xari said:


> Is it accurate that the Russian word for window окно is a borrowing from Old Scandinavian vindr+*auga* ("eye towards the wind")



According to this, *okъno is Proto-Slavic.


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## Treaty

In Persian, an old word for window was _baadgir_ (wind catcher). It is consisted of _baad_=wind (_vata_ in Avestan) and _gir _(present form of _greftan,_to grab, to gear). However, it doesn't suggest any visibility through this window. In recent centuries, it is mostly used for wind-towers, a structure for ventilation. 

Currently, the common word for window is _panjere_ that is used at least since 11th century in its current form. However, it seems to be mostly related to visibility. It strangely looks like _fenetre_ or _finistre_, and Greek _parathura_ (mentioned by apmoy70). Is it just a coincidence? It's hard to think either Greek or Iranian had not a word for such a widespread ancient architectural element, in their own language, to borrow it from other languages. 
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P.S. An architecture historian [Pirnia] once wrote (without reference) it comes from _panj-_ an old Persian root for to cut and to put(?). It is probably from _panjeh_ (paw) which comes from _panj_ (five, fingers). As an architect, I don't think it is related to window, and Pirnia's work were more romantic rather than scientific.


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## francisgranada

> Languages that have similar words for wind and window


The Spanish *ventana *(window) is surely similar to *viento *(wind). Also etymologically, e.g. according to DRAE: "*ventana**. *(Del lat. _ventus_)...."

As to the Portuguese "*janela*" see also the following fragment from the so called _kharjas_:
"Qué faré, mamma? Meu _al-habib_ est' ad yana"  (yana = puerta, door)


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## Outsider

francisgranada said:


> As to the Portuguese "*janela*" see also the following fragment from the so called _kharjas_:
> "Qué faré, mamma? Meu _al-habib_ est' ad yana"  (yana = puerta, door)


Very interesting! Would _yana_ be a loan from Arabic?


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## francisgranada

Outsider said:


> Very interesting! Would _yana_ be a loan from Arabic?


It's from Latin _ianua_ (door)


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