False friends
False friends or faux amis1 are words in two or more languages that look or sound similar, but differ significantly in meaning. For example, the word fear refers to an emotion in English, while in Irish it means “man”.
Selections
False friends in Irish:
- beach
- a bee
- bean
- a woman
- crap
- to contract, to draw in or up
- dear
- to draw, to design
- fear
- a man
- file
- a poet
- focal
- a word
- gin
- birth; to conceive
- long
- a ship
- mall
- slow
- oil
- to nurture, to educate
- poll
- a hole
- rang
- a rank
- seas
- to stand
- sin
- that, those
- teach
- a house
- tit
- to fall
False friends in French:
- affluence
- crowds, abundance
- allure
- appearance; speed, pace
- but
- aim, goal
- fin
- end, finish; thin, fine
- glands
- acorns
- sensible
- sensitive