300–201 BC

Spanish words from Latin words first recorded in the 3rd century BC

412 Spanish words inherited from a Latin word whose earliest known written record dates from the 3rd century BC, earliest Latin record first.

maestro
299 BC–200 BC

from Latin magister

It is inherited from Old Spanish maestro, inherited from Latin magister (“chief, director; teacher”). Its feminine maestra continues magistra. Spanish also has the learned doublet magíster and…
alto
280 BC–200 BC

from Latin altus

1. The word for “high, tall” is inherited from Latin altus (“high; deep”). Corominas explains its sound as the influence of the more learned layers of speech: a fully popular word would have become…
can
280 BC–260 BC

from Latin canis

It is inherited from Latin canis (“dog”). The word survives in every Romance language: Portuguese cão, Galician can, Catalan ca, French chien, Italian cane and Romanian câine. The Latin word goes…
casi
280 BC–260 BC

from Latin quasi

It is inherited from Latin quasi (“as if; about”), in a semi-learned form. Corominas and Wiktionary describe it as taken from Latin. It is semi-learned in the other Romance languages too: Italian…
entre
280 BC–200 BC

from Latin inter

It is inherited from Latin inter (“between, among”). The same Latin word is Portuguese entre, Galician entre, Asturian ente, Catalan entre, French entre and Romanian între. Old Portuguese also had…
hielo
280 BC–260 BC

from Latin gelu

It is inherited from Old Spanish yelo, inherited from Latin gelu (“frost, cold; ice”). The Latin word also survives in Romanian ger, French gel, Occitan gel and Catalan gel, in Asturian xelu and in…
madre
280 BC–200 BC

from Latin mater

It is inherited from Latin māter (“mother”). Wiktionary takes it from the accusative, the Academy's dictionary of 1884 from the ablative. The word is used in every period and is common to all the…
nuestro
280 BC–200 BC

from Latin noster

It is inherited from Old Spanish nuestro, inherited from Latin noster (“our”). The same Latin word is Portuguese nosso, Galician noso, Asturian nuestru, Catalan nostre, French notre, Italian nostro…
pavor
280 BC–260 BC

from Latin pavor

It is inherited from Latin pavor (“sudden fear, terror”). Because the usual word for fear in Spanish and Portuguese has always been miedo, from metus, and because the other Romance languages lost…
pecho
280 BC–200 BC

from Latin pectus

It is inherited from Old Spanish pechos, inherited from Latin pectus (“breast, chest”). The Latin word was a neuter, so the Romance form continues its accusative, which was the same as the…
tu
280 BC–200 BC

from Latin tuus

It is inherited from Old Spanish tu, the unstressed form of the possessive that continues inherited from Latin tuus (“your, yours”). In Romance the Latin possessive split into an unstressed form…
tuyo
280 BC–200 BC

from Latin tuus

It continues inherited from Latin tuus (“your, yours”), which in Spanish split into an unstressed form tu (in Old Spanish masculine to, feminine tu or tue) and a stressed form, the present word. The…
allá
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin illac

It is inherited from Latin illāc (“by that way, there”). Wiktionary and Menéndez Pidal derive it from ad (“to”) together with the same adverb. Corominas notes that these Latin adverbs were stressed…
allí
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin illic

It is inherited from Old Spanish allí, inherited from Latin illīc (“there, in that place”). Wiktionary and Bénaben analyse it as ad (“to”) joined to the Latin adverb, which would account for the…
anillo
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin anellus

It is inherited from Latin ānellus (“little ring”), and Old Spanish had aniello. Corominas and the BDELC describe the Latin word as a diminutive of ānulus (“ring”); the OLD and de Vaan derive both…
arar
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin aro

It is inherited from Old Spanish arar, inherited from Latin arō (“to plough”). The same Latin verb is Portuguese arar, Galician arar, Asturian arar, Catalan arar, Occitan arar, Old French arer…
caro
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin carus

It is inherited from Latin cārus (“dear; costly”). The Latin word already had both senses, “loved” and “precious, expensive”, which Spanish kept. The same word is Portuguese caro, Galician caro…
cohombro
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin cucumis

It is inherited from Old Spanish cogombro, inherited from Latin cucumis (“cucumber”). García de Diego starts all the Ibero-Romance forms from a form Late Latin cucumerus, recorded in a glossary…
conde
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin comes

It is inherited from Old Spanish conde, inherited from Latin comes (“companion”). In the Late Empire the Latin word was applied to the nobles who lived in the imperial palace and went with the ruler…
confundir
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin confundo

It is inherited from Old Spanish cofonder, inherited from Latin cōnfundō (“to pour together, mix; to confuse”). Corominas treats the Cid's form, confonder in Berceo and the modern form, first found…
constreñir
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin constringo

It is inherited from Latin cōnstringō (“to bind together, tie up”). Vox calls it a popular word of the same family as estreñir. The learned doublet is constringir. The same Latin verb gave…
cuerda
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin chorda

It is inherited from Latin chorda (“string of a musical instrument; rope, cord”), which is from Ancient Greek χορδή (khordḗ, “gut, tripe; string made of gut”). The word means “rope, cord” in all the…
cuidar
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin cogito

It is inherited from Old Spanish cuidar (“to think”), inherited from Latin cōgitō (“to think”). Corominas traces the sound changes as /koyedár/ > /koydár/ > /kuydár/ > /kujdár/: the fricative /y/…
cura
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin cura

It is inherited from Latin cūra (“care, concern”). The priest was named for the “cure of souls”, the spiritual care of the parishioners in his charge: Corominas thinks that the feminine noun, or the…
despojar
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin despolio

It is inherited from Old Spanish despoiar, inherited from Latin dēspoliō (“to rob, plunder”). The Latin verb is formed from dē- and spoliō (“to strip, rob”), which comes from spolium (“skin of an…
disparar
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin disparo

It continues inherited from Latin disparāre (“to divide, separate”), which the Romance languages took as the negative of parō (“to prepare”). To desparar a crossbow was therefore the opposite of…
dolor
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin dolor

It is inherited from Old Spanish dolor, inherited from Latin dolor (“pain, grief”). Wikcionario calls it a learned word, but Wiktionary and the other sources give it as inherited; Corominas lists it…
donar
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin dono

It is inherited from Latin dōnō (“to give as a present, bestow”). Corominas notes that it may be an old semi-learned word, but the popular development of Portuguese doar and Galician doar supports…
escudo
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin scutum

It is inherited from Old Spanish escudo, inherited from Latin scūtum (“shield”). The same Latin word is Portuguese escudo, Galician escudo, Catalan escut, Occitan escut, French écu, Italian scudo…
fin
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin finis

It is inherited from Old Spanish fin, inherited from Latin fīnis (“boundary, limit; end”), by a semi-learned route. García de Diego regards the Castilian word as learned or as a form of the…
fregar
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin frico

It is inherited from Old Spanish fregar, inherited from Latin fricō (“to rub, chafe”). The same Latin verb is Portuguese fregar, Catalan fregar, Occitan fregar, French frayer (“to clear a path; to…
gota
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin gutta

It is inherited from Old Spanish gota, inherited from Latin gutta (“drop”). The same Latin word is Portuguese gota, Galician gota, Asturian gota, Catalan gota, Occitan gota, French goutte, Italian…
granero
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin granarium

It is inherited from Latin grānārium (“granary”). Within Spanish it can be read as grano with the suffix -ero. The same Latin word is Catalan graner, Occitan granièr, French grenier, Italian granaio…
hermoso
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin formosus

It is inherited from Old Spanish fermoso, inherited from Latin fōrmōsus (“finely formed, beautiful”). Classical Latin had both pulcher and this word; the first, more frequent and more abstract, left…
hierba
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin herba

It is inherited from Latin herba (“grass, small plant”); the medieval language wrote it Old Spanish yerva or yerba. The same Latin word is Portuguese erva, Galician herba, Catalan herba, French…
hombro
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin umerus

It is inherited from Old Spanish ombro, inherited from Latin umerus (“shoulder”). The Latin spelling humerus is late and incorrect. Gómez de Silva puts its ⟨h⟩ down to hypercorrection. The learned…
jugar
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin iocor

It is inherited from Old Spanish jogar, inherited from Latin iocor (“to jest, joke”), a verb formed on iocus (“joke, jest”). The Latin verb took the place of ludere (“to play”). The form with ⟨o⟩…
jurar
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin iuro

It is inherited from Old Spanish iurar, inherited from Latin iūrō (“to swear, take an oath”). The Latin verb is formed from iūs (“law, right”). Bénaben and the DHLF explain the original sense as “to…
lana
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin lana

It is inherited from Old Spanish lana, inherited from Latin lāna (“wool”). Corominas notes that it has been in general use at all periods and is common to all the Romance languages. The same Latin…
ley
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin lex

It is inherited from Old Spanish ley, inherited from Latin lēx (“law”). The same Latin word is Portuguese lei, Galician lei, Asturian llei, Catalan llei, Occitan lei, French loi, Italian legge and…
lidiar
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin litigo

It is inherited from Latin lītigāre (“to dispute, quarrel, go to law”). Corominas notes that the Latin verb survives as a popular word only in Spanish and in Portuguese lidar, and that its change of…
manga
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin manica

1. The word for the sleeve is inherited from Latin manica (“long sleeve of a tunic”), a derivative of manus (“hand”). Latin formed it as an adjective in -icus made into a feminine noun. The same…
navegar
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin navigo

It is inherited from Old Spanish navegar, inherited from Latin navigō (“to go by ship, sail”). Corominas lists it among the derivatives of nave and dates it 1438. The same Latin verb is Portuguese…
ocho
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin octo

It is inherited from Old Spanish ocho, inherited from Latin octō (“eight”). Wiktionary reconstructs an earlier form *oito between the Latin and the Old Spanish word. The same Latin word is…
oreja
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin auricula

It is inherited from Old Spanish oreja, inherited from Latin auricula (“ear”). The Latin word is the diminutive of auris (“ear”), and the poets of the Silver Age already used the diminutive in place…
pecado
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin peccatum

It is inherited from Latin peccātum (“error, fault; sin”); Old Spanish pecado, often written peccado in the early texts, already has the modern form. The Latin noun is the neuter of the past…
pescador
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin piscator

It is inherited from Latin piscātor (“fisherman”); Old Spanish already had pescador. The noun is formed from Latin piscor (“to fish”) + -tor, and the verb comes from piscis (“fish”). Corominas…
pescar
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin piscor

It continues inherited from Latin piscor (“to fish”), or rather the active form *piscare of this deponent verb. The same verb is Portuguese pescar, Galician pescar, Catalan pescar, Occitan pescar…
piedra
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin petra

It is inherited from Latin petra (“rock, stone”), Old Spanish piedra. Latin had borrowed the word from Ancient Greek πέτρα (pétra, “rock”). The Greek loan occurs in the earliest Latin writers, but…
quebrar
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin crepo

It is inherited from Old Spanish crebar, inherited from Latin crepō (“to crack, creak, burst”). The Old Spanish form took its modern shape by metathesis of the /r/. In Late Latin the verb already…
rastro
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin rastrum

It is inherited from Latin rastrum (“drag-hoe, rake”). The sense moved from the rake to the marks it leaves on the ground. From these it passed to any track or trail. The same Latin word is…
recorrer
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin recurro

It is inherited from Latin recurrō (“to run back, hurry back”), formed re- (“back”) + currō (“to run”). García de Diego counts it as the popular outcome of the Latin verb, while recurrir “to have…
rezar
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin recito

It is inherited from Latin recitō (“to read aloud, recite”). The Latin verb is formed with re- (“again”) on citō (“to call forth”). Corominas traces the sound changes through *rezdar and *redzar to…
según
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin secundum

It is inherited from Latin secundum (“following; according to”). Old Spanish segund, also segunt and segundo, is an apocopated form due to its unstressed use before the noun. The Latin preposition…
siempre
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin semper

It is inherited from Old Spanish siempre, inherited from Latin semper (“always”). The same Latin word is Portuguese sempre, Galician sempre, Asturian siempre, Catalan sempre, Occitan sempre and…
sierra
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin serra

It is inherited from Latin serra (“saw”). The sense “range of mountains” is a comparison with the toothed outline of the ridges, as Covarrubias already explained. Corominas notes that this use is…
sin
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin sine

It is inherited from Latin sine (“without”). The oldest Spanish record has the expected form Old Spanish sen, which glosses the Latin ⟨sine testibus⟩ “without witnesses” in the Glosas Silenses, and…
sobre
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin super

1. The preposition is inherited from Old Spanish sobre, inherited from Latin super (“over, above”). Its learned doublet is super. Cabrera explained the order of the sounds by a shift of ⟨r⟩: ⟨super⟩…
soplar
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin sufflo

It continues inherited from Latin sufflō (“to blow on, puff up”), formed sub- (“under”) + flō (“to blow”). The change of the Latin /f/ to /p/ is irregular. Corominas notes that Spanish shares it…
sordo
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin surdus

It is inherited from Latin surdus (“deaf; muted”); Old Spanish sordo has the same form. The word has been in use at every period and is common to all the Romance languages. The same Latin word is…

All Spanish words inherited from Latin, by century →