Dure

A hard word

Photo by Jane Boyd & ECE Workshops on Unsplash

“La vida es dura, mi amigo” would be the translation for what you see in the above photo. Let’s examine this week’s word duo.

First, I apologize for not having a podcast with today’s post. I’ve been sneezing all morning, and no one wants to hear my congested voice or one of my loud sneezes, so I’m leaving off the podcast portion this week.

On to our words:

dure — an archaic adjective in English that means “hard” or “severe”

duro/dura — the Spanish cognates (masculine adjective/feminine adjective) that mean “hard” and that are very much still in use

These words come to us from Latin’s durus which means “hard.” “Durus” comes from Latin’s durare which means “to last” as in how long it will be around.

So, why am I using an English word that we don’t even use anymore to broaden your cognate cognizance?

Well, we might not use “dure” anymore, but we certainly use many of its relatives.

Have you ever been “under duress?” If so, you were “under a stringent compulsion by threat of danger, HARDSHIP, or retribution” to do something.

“Dure” also survives in “endure.” If we “endure” something, that something is probably something that is “hard” or “severe” like a hard challenge or a severe winter, etc.

If something is “durable,” then it can “endure” for a long time without wearing out. It “lasts.” The Spanish cognate of “durable” is an exact match of “durable” — it’s pronounced differently, though (doo-rah-blay).

The “duration” of something is how long it “lasts.” That word is “duraciόn” in Spanish.

I bet you use the word “during” quite often. It refers to the time in which something “lasts.” Its Spanish cognate is “durante.” (doo-rahn-tay)

There’s a lot of legalese that uses “durante” in it. Some examples from my unabridged dictionary:

durante absentia: during absence

durante vita: during life

durante furore: during madness

If you’re a musician, you may know the word “durezza” to refer to “harshness” in music.

In Spanish, one of the words for a “peach” is “durazno.” It’s called this because of its “hard” pit.

Photo by Hamad Alahamad on Unsplash

I hope this week’s “Cognate Cognizance” lesson hasn’t been too “dure” for you. If you’re a paying subscriber, read on for more about “dure” and its cognates as well as more examples. If you’re not yet a paying subscriber, please consider becoming one to help make my life less “dure.” Ha ha.

All the best.

Tammy Marshall