# 2nd = Second



## ronanpoirier

Just something that occured to me while I was waiting for the subway.

Is it similar in all languages or just in some Romance Languages and in English?

2nd = the number after the 1st
Second = the sixtyth part of a minute


See ya! _o/


----------



## DrWatson

Finnish doesn't have the same system:

2nd = *toinen*
second (time unit) = *sekunti

*As one may notice, the time unit word has been loaned from an Indo-European language, probably Swedish. The words are not interchangeable.


----------



## zaigucis

It is not similar in Latvian:
otrais = the number after the 1st
sekunde = the sixtyth part of a minute


----------



## Outsider

Do a web search for "second". It's probably a word of Latin origin.


----------



## Frank06

Hi,

In Dutch:
2nd: tweede (twee = two, -de suffix)
second: seconde

Groetjes,

Frank


----------



## Heba

In Arabic:

second (60th part of a minute): ثانية -thaneya
second (2nd): ثاني -thany (male), ثانية -thaneya (female)

Yes, they are similar. I never thought about it before. Here is one of my new discoveries in my own language.


----------



## Mutichou

In French:
2nd: second(e)(s) (but we also can say deuxième(s))
second (time): seconde


----------



## Honour

In Turkish
Second (time)= saniye
Second (ordinal number) =İkinci (two: iki)


----------



## Thomas F. O'Gara

"Second" in the sense of coming after "first" was the original word. It comes from the Latin Present Active Participle of the verb _sequi, _"to follow." Watever is _second _by definition follows whatever is first. The Spanish preposition _según _comes from the same root.

Frequently languages use a root from the word meaning "other" (e.g., Polish _drugi _and Hindi _dusra) _for "second" in the consecutive sense. It's interesting to note how many languages don't have a specific term for the concept.

As for the use as a unit of time, it derives from the sequential meaning, because it is the second 1/60 division of a unit - the first being a minute, which is 1/60 of an hour. While I don't have anything to back this up, I suspect that the concept came from the Medieval Arabs, especially since Arabic has its own native word for "second" - that is, the Arabic word for "second" doesn't derive from words meaning "following", "other," etc. - and it uses this word in both senses.


----------



## Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!

In *Czech*: 

2nd = druhý (m. sg. nom.)
second = sekunda _or_ vteřina

No apparent similarity at first sight, but it should be noted that "vteřina" is derived from the (now dead) adjective "vterý", which in Old Czech meant - you guessed it - second. (Cf. "vtoroy"(?) in Russian)


----------



## raphaela

portuguese

2nd-segundo
second-segundo


----------



## Maja

In Serbian:

2nd = drugi (druga, drugo)
second = sekunda


----------



## Lemminkäinen

Norwegian:

Second: *sekund*
2nd: *annen* or *andre* (*annan* in nynorsk) (they're synonyms), from the Norse _annarr_.


----------



## MariadeManila

Different also in Filipino/Tagalog

2nd = pangalawa
second = segundo


----------



## parakseno

Romanian:

2nd - al doilea (more frequently used)/ secund
second - secundă

Guess we go with the flow


----------



## clapec

ronanpoirier said:


> 2nd = the number after the 1st
> Second = the sixtyth part of a minute


 
It is the same in Italian. We use the word *secondo*


----------



## clapec

In Russian:

2nd: второй (vtoròj)
second: секунда (sekùnda)


----------



## linguist786

Thomas F. O'Gara said:


> As for the use as a unit of time, it derives from the sequential meaning, because it is the second 1/60 division of a unit - the first being a minute, which is 1/60 of an hour. While I don't have anything to back this up, I suspect that the concept came from the Medieval Arabs, especially since Arabic has its own native word for "second" - that is, the Arabic word for "second" doesn't derive from words meaning "following", "other," etc. - and it uses this word in both senses.


Wait, so are you claiming that the unit of time use comes from Arabic or developed independently from the sequential use? In the absence of evidence to the contrary, it seems to me more plausible that it would have been borrowed, e.g. from Arabic, than developed from the sequential use. But maybe it's just my lack of imagination that prevents me from seeing any plausible connection between the two notions.


----------



## gao_yixing

Chinese:
2nd=第二(dì èr)
second(time unit)=秒(miăo)


----------



## Flaminius

The time unit second indeed developed from the ordinal number.

"Originally, the second was known as a "second minute", meaning the second minute (i.e. small) division of an hour. The first division was known as a "prime minute" and is equivalent to the minute we know today."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second

We have, however, yet to determine in which language the notion of "the second division" of hours was first conceived.


----------



## issurmast

ronanpoirier said:


> Just something that occured to me while I was waiting for the subway.
> 
> Is it similar in all languages or just in some Romance Languages and in English?
> 
> 2nd = the number after the 1st
> Second = the sixtyth part of a minute
> 
> 
> See ya! _o/


 
In Maltese the position 2nd = Tieni
while                        Second=Sekondiera


----------



## roh3x2n

Farsi 
2nd = dohom
second = daqeeqa.


----------



## konungursvia

In English, the original word for 2nd is "other." It is still used that way in some expressions, such as "every other day" meaning every two days. And as someone said above, "minute" is a geometrical term for "small quantity" and "second minute" or "second" meant a unit one further order of magnitude smaller.


----------



## linguist786

roh3x2n said:


> Farsi
> second = daqeeqa.


Really? In Arabic, "daqeeqa" means _minute_.


----------



## Bienvenidos

Persian:

2nd - *duom
*second -*sânya


*


----------



## roh3x2n

linguist786 said:


> Really? In Arabic, "daqeeqa" means _minute_.


Sorry my mistake.
It is saanya for Second(Period)


----------



## rgrafe

En EspaÑol En Ambos Sentidos: Segundo.


----------



## e-dre

Hey, it is loan word of Latin!


----------



## Lillita

*Hungarian:*

2nd - _második_
second - _másodperc_


----------



## francophone

Yes similar in Arabic (also I think the spelling would be different), French, English & Italian.


----------



## amikama

In Hebrew, *שנייה* (_shniya_) has both meanings.




linguist786 said:


> In Arabic, "daqeeqa" means _minute_.


Similar to Hebrew: *דקה* (_daka_) = minute.


----------



## CyberSetan

Malay/Indonesian :

Second (2nd) = Kedua

 Explaination:

ke = counter word

dua = two

more examples :

ketiga = third

kesembilan = ninth
 
*except for the "first", we dont use ke + one (satu), there is a word for it :

Pertama = (the) first


----------



## jonquiliser

In Swedish;
2nd: andra
second: sekund.


----------



## Whodunit

In German (and many other other Germanic languages except for English), the two words are different:

second (time) = Sekunde
second (number) = zweite

As for the etymology:

My etymology dictionary backs up the theory some of you claimed to be true: Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus) invented the sexagesimal, which some of you might know, where the second part (after the division by a minute) was called "pars minuta secunda" (= second devided part), which later (around the 15th century) developed to "second" in English, for example.

etymological references:
*minutus* = lat. "decreased/devided," from "minuere" (reduce), "minus" (less), comparative of "parvus" (small); *_mei_- "small" and *_pau_- (few)
*secundus* = lat. "following/ensuing/subsequent/next," from "sequi" (follow); *_sekw_- (following) and *_seqondos_ (that which follows)


----------



## MarX

Hi!

In Indonesian:

2nd = *kedua*, *ke-2*
second (1/60 of a minute) = *detik*, doesn't even sound similar to _second_.

Salam,


MarX


----------



## apmoy70

Greek:

2nd: *«Δεύτερος, -ρη, -ρο»* [ˈðef.te.ɾɔs] (masc.), [ˈðef.te.ɾi] (fem.), [ˈðef.te.ɾɔ] (neut.) < Classical ordinal *«δεύτερος, -τέρᾱ, -τερον» deú̯tĕrŏs* (masc.), *deu̯térā* (fem.), *deú̯tĕrŏn* (neut.); its etymology is unclear, it's usually accepted that it's from the cardinal *«δύο» dúŏ* + adjectival suffix *«-τερος» -tĕrŏs* but Beekes takes it as being a comparative of the Classical v. *«δέω» déō* (active) & *«δέομαι/δεύομαι» déŏmai̯* (mediopassive)/(var.) *deú̯ŏmai̯* (mediopassive) --> _to miss, lack, be in need of, be inferior_ (PIE *deu̯s- _to miss, want, need_ cf Skt. दोष (dos̩a), _defect, error_).

Second (time): *«Δευτερόλεπτο»* [ðef.teˈɾɔ.lep.tɔ] (neut.) < Koine neut. *«δευτερόλεπτον» deu̯tĕrólĕptŏn* --> _second of a minute_ or _of degree_ < Classical ordinal *«δεύτερος» deú̯tĕrŏs* (see earlier) + Classical neut. *«λεπτόν» lĕptón* --> _division of a degree, minute_, of the Classical deverbative adj. *«λεπτός, -τή, -τόν» lĕptós* (masc.), *lĕptḗ *(fem.),* lĕptón *(neut.) --> _thin, lean, weak, fine-grained, refined, delicate_ < Classical v. *«λέπω» lépō* --> _ to peel off_; for Beekes:


> The primary thematic present λέπω, from which all verbal forms were derived (λέλαμμαι, λαπῆναι), has no direct correspondences outside Greek. There are a few nominal formations resembling the Greek forms: Lith. _lāpas_ 'leaf, Alb. _lapë_ 'rag, leaf, peritoneum' (λoπός), Lith. _lōpas_ 'rag, piece' (λῶπος), together with Ru. _lápot_ 'shoe of bark', _lapotók_ 'rag, piece'. The form λέπος was also compared with the s-stem Lat. _lepōs_ 'grace', and the extension in Ru. _lépest_ 'rag, piece, leaf of a flower'. However, we may safely conclude that the verb is non-lE (and Pre-Greek)


----------



## nimak

Macedonian


2nd = втор, втора, второ (vtor, vtora, vtoro), _masc., fem., neut._ ['ftɔr] ['ftɔra] ['ftɔrɔ]
second (time unit) = секунда (sekunda) ['sɛkunda]


----------

