Translation
to smear, to spread; to grease, to lubricate
Word origin
From German schmieren, to smear with fat, from a Germanic root meaning grease. English smear comes from the same source, which is why the two words feel related the moment you hear them.
- Origin
- German
- Root
- schmieren
- English cognates
- smear, schmear
Examples
.
She spread butter on the bread.
.
You have to grease the machine with oil.
.
The child smeared paint on the wall.
The false seam. is not ŝ plus . There is no prefix ŝ- in Esperanto, means to marvel at rank 501, and the two words have nothing to do with each other. Ŝmir- is one root, borrowed whole from German, and the ŝm- cluster at the front is simply how German starts words.
The near-pair. , make-up, at rank 2193, begins with the same two letters and comes from German too, but from Schminke and not from schmieren. Different roots that happen to have collided at the start. You do not your , or rather you might, but the words are not family.
Two senses, and they sit further apart in English than in Esperanto. You butter onto bread, ointment onto skin, paint onto a wall: spreading a soft substance thinly over a surface. And you a machine: greasing it so it runs. Esperanto sees one action there. English needs spread, smear and grease to cover the same ground.
Where this fits
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ŝmiri: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Esperanto word "ŝmiri" (to smear, to spread; to grease, to lubricate): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 50.