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Old June 28, 2012, 10:04 AM
pacomartin123 pacomartin123 is offline
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En "courage", Sp "coraje" Old French "corage"

Clearly English "courage" and Spanish "coraje" are both descendants from the same Old French word "corage".

But judging from the DRAE definition
coraje (Del fr. ant. corages).
1. m. Impetuosa decisión y esfuerzo del ánimo, valor.
2. m. Irritación, ira.

and conversations with native Spanish speakers from Mexico, the two words have deviated in meaning. The Spanish noun "coraje" means primarily "impetuous" and "irritating". In the Wizard of Oz,el León Cobarde always wanted "valor".

But most online dictionaries would translate "coraje" first as "courage".

I have two questions.
(1) Is their a linguistic terms for two words that have the same ancestor, but now have different meanings?
(2) Is the interpretation that the English and Spanish word have different meaning hold in Spanish from other countries besides Mexico?
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