Catalan words from Latin
214 Catalan words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 4).
senya
It is inherited from Latin signa (“signs”), the plural of signum (“mark, sign”). Wiktionary calls it the inherited doublet of the learned signe. The same Latin word gave Spanish seña, Portuguese…
serp
It is inherited from Old Catalan serp, which is inherited from Vulgar Latin *serpes (“snake”), a popular form of classical serpēns (“snake, serpent”). The GDLC and the REW note that a nominative…
set
1. The word for seven is inherited from Latin septem (“seven”). The same Latin word is Occitan sèt, Spanish siete, Portuguese sete, Italian sette, French sept and Romanian șapte. The Latin numeral…
setmana
It is inherited from Old Catalan setmana, inherited from Late Latin septimāna (“week”). The Late Latin noun was derived from the adjective septimānus (“of the seventh”), from septimus (“seventh”)…
sobrar
It is inherited from Latin superō (“to rise above, surpass, overcome”). The Latin verb is formed from super (“above”). The learned superar is a doublet of it. The same Latin verb is Romanian supăra…
son
1. The possessive is inherited from Old Catalan son, which is inherited from Vulgar Latin sum, the reduced form of Latin suus (“his, her, its own”) in its accusative ⟨suum⟩. Before a noun Vulgar…
sort
It is inherited from Old Catalan sort, which is inherited from Latin sors (“lot; fate”). The same Latin word is Italian sorte, French sort, Occitan sòrt, Spanish suerte, Portuguese sorte and…
tal
It is inherited from Old Catalan tal, which is inherited from Latin tālis (“of such a kind”). The same Latin word is Occitan tal, French tel, Spanish tal, Italian tale, Portuguese tal and Romanian…
tallar
It is inherited from Old Catalan tallar, also written ⟨taylar⟩, which is inherited from Late Latin taliō (“to cut”), a verb formed from Latin tālea (“a cutting for planting; a thin piece of wood”)…
tard
The adverb is inherited from Old Catalan tart, inherited from Latin tardē (“slowly; late”), the adverb of tardus (“slow”). The DCVB derives the old adjective ⟨tard⟩ “slow” from the Latin adjective…
taula
It is inherited from Latin tabula (“board, plank; writing tablet”), which in Catalan took the place of mensa (“table”). The same Latin word is Old Occitan taula, French table, Italian tavola…
tela
It is inherited from Old Catalan tela, which is inherited from Latin tēla (“cloth, web”). The Latin noun is an old derivative of texō (“to weave”), through a form ⟨texla⟩. Wiktionary gives the…
tendre
It is inherited from Old Catalan tendre, earlier tenre, which is inherited from Latin tener (“soft, tender, delicate”). The /d/ between /n/ and /r/ is a later insertion: the older form ⟨tenre⟩ lacks…
tenir
It is inherited from Latin teneō (“to hold, keep”), which passed from the second conjugation to the verbs in ⟨-ir⟩. Wiktionary places the change in Early Medieval Latin. Most Romance languages kept…
terra
It is inherited from Old Catalan terra, which is inherited from Latin terra (“dry land, earth”). The same Latin word is Occitan tèrra, Spanish tierra, Portuguese terra, French terre, Italian terra…
teu
It is inherited from Old Catalan teu, which is inherited from Latin tuus (“your, yours”), remade on the model of the first-person possessive meus (“my”). The DCVB writes the remade form as a Vulgar…
tornar
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…
tot
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin tōttus (“whole, all”), an emphatic pronunciation of classical tōtus (“the whole of, all”). The form with ⟨tt⟩ underlies Occitan tot, French tout and Italian tutto…
traginar
It is inherited from Old Catalan traginar, which is inherited from Vulgar Latin *traginō (“to drag along”), formed from a variant *tragō of trahō (“to pull, drag”). The same Vulgar Latin verb gave…
trist
It is inherited from Old Catalan trist, which is inherited from Vulgar Latin trīstus, a variant of Latin trīstis (“sad, gloomy; stern”). The DCVB derives it directly from the classical form. The…
ull
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin oclus (“eye”), the contracted form of classical Latin oculus (“eye”). It is a doublet of òcul, a borrowing from the Latin word. The same Latin word is Occitan uèlh…
un
It is inherited from Latin ūnus (“one”). At first only a numeral, it also became the indefinite article, with the plurals ⟨uns⟩ and ⟨unes⟩, as in all the Romance languages. The same Latin word is…
usar
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *ūsō (“to use”), also recorded in Medieval Latin, a verb based on Latin ūsus (“use”) and in the end on ūtor (“to use”). The sources describe the formation…
vaca
It is inherited from Latin vacca (“cow”). The same Latin word is Occitan vaca, Spanish vaca, Portuguese vaca, French vache, Italian vacca and Romanian vacă. The origin of the Latin word is…
valent
It is inherited from Old Catalan valent, which is inherited from Latin valēns (“strong, powerful”), the present participle of valeō (“to be strong, be worth”). The same Latin word is Occitan valent…
venjar
It is inherited from Old Catalan venjar, which is inherited from Latin vindicō (“to claim; to set free; to avenge”). The learned doublet vindicar was borrowed from the same Latin verb and is…
vent
It is inherited from Old Catalan vent, which is inherited from Latin ventus (“wind”). The same Latin word is Italian vento, French vent, Occitan vent, Spanish viento, Portuguese vento and Romanian…
verd
It is inherited from Late Latin virdis, the syncopated form of Latin viridis (“green”). Corominas holds that all the Romance forms come from the syncopated form, which must already have been Vulgar…
vetllar
It is inherited from Old Catalan vetlar, which is inherited from Latin vigilō (“to stay awake, keep watch”). The learned doublet vigilar was borrowed from the same Latin verb and is recorded from…
vi
It is inherited from Old Catalan vi, also written ⟨vin⟩, which is inherited from Latin vīnum (“wine”). The Old Catalan variant ⟨vin⟩ and the plural ⟨vins⟩ keep the /n/ of the Latin word. The same…
vinya
It is inherited from Old Catalan vinya, which is inherited from Latin vīnea (“vines in a vineyard”). Coromines notes that the word was in general use in every period and is common to all the Romance…
viu
It is inherited from Latin vīvus (“alive, living”). The same Latin word is Spanish vivo, Portuguese vivo, Occitan viu, French vif, Italian vivo and Romanian viu. The Latin adjective belongs with…
volar
It is inherited from Old Catalan volar, inherited from Latin volō (“to fly”). Coromines notes that the word has kept its shape almost unchanged. The same Latin verb is Occitan volar, Spanish volar…
voler
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *volēre (“to want”), the Vulgar Latin infinitive that replaced classical velle. The DCVB explains the new infinitive as formed by analogy with the forms ⟨volo⟩…