100–1 BC

Catalan words from Latin words first recorded in the 1st century BC

9 Catalan words inherited from a Latin word whose earliest known written record dates from the 1st century BC, earliest Latin record first.

1. desembre

   99 BC–1 BC

   from Latin December

   It is inherited from Old Catalan dehembre, inherited from Latin December (“the tenth month”). The month was named from decem (“ten”) because it was the tenth month of the early Roman year, which…

2. ranci

   96 BC–55 BC

   from Latin rancidus

   It is inherited from Latin rancidus (“rotten, rancid”). The expected outcome of the Latin forms was a masculine ⟨rànceu⟩ and a feminine ⟨rància⟩; because the feminine was the commoner form (of…

3. tornar

   81 BC–43 BC

   from Latin torno

   It is inherited from Old Catalan tornar, which is inherited from Latin tornō (“to turn on a lathe”), from tornus (“lathe”). The Latin noun is from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos, “lathe”), which…

4. cel

   80 BC–27 BC

   from Latin caelum

   It is inherited from Latin caelum (“sky, heaven”). The same Latin word is Occitan cèl, French ciel, Italian cielo, Spanish cielo, Portuguese céu and Romanian cer. The Latin word continues…

5. mal

   80 BC–27 BC

   from Latin malus

   It is inherited from Old Catalan mal. As an adjective it is inherited from Latin malus (“bad”). The noun is inherited from Latin malum (“evil, harm”), the neuter of the adjective used as a noun. The…

6. lligar

   65 BC–54 BC

   from Latin ligo

   It is inherited from Old Catalan ligar, which is inherited from Latin ligō (“to fasten, bind”). The same Latin verb is Italian legare, French lier, Occitan liar, Spanish liar, Portuguese liar and…

7. salt

   60 BC–55 BC

   from Latin saltus

   It is inherited from Old Catalan salt, which is inherited from Latin saltus (“a leap, a jump”). The Latin noun is derived from saliō (“to jump”). The verb saltar continues the Latin frequentative…

8. pesar

   44 BC–35 BC

   from Latin penso

   It is inherited from Old Catalan pesar, which is inherited from Latin pēnsō (“to weigh carefully”), the frequentative or intensive of pendō (“to weigh”). The noun meaning “sorrow” is the infinitive…

9. demanar

   27 BC–17

   from Latin demando

   It is inherited from Latin demandō (“to entrust, commit; to demand”). Bruguera treats it in the article on manar, of the same Latin family. The same Latin verb is French demander, Italian domandare…

All Catalan words inherited from Latin, by century →