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 (page 2).

soñar
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin somnio

It is inherited from Old Spanish soñar, inherited from Latin somniō (“to dream”). The Latin verb is formed from somnium (“dream”), itself from somnus (“sleep”). In Spanish the Latin nouns for…
treinta
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin triginta

It is inherited from Old Spanish treinta, inherited from Latin trīgintā (“thirty”). Corominas assumes that the Latin form was replaced by a Vulgar Latin variant with a changed vowel, perhaps under…
triste
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin tristis

It is inherited from Old Spanish triste, inherited from Latin trīstis (“sad, gloomy”). Corominas notes that the word is common to all the Romance languages, though in some it may be semi-learned, as…
tuerto
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin tortus

It is inherited from Old Spanish tuerto, inherited from Latin tortus (“twisted”), the past participle of torqueō (“to twist, wind”). The same participle gave Italian torto, Portuguese torto and…
vaina
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin vagina

It is inherited from Old Spanish vaína, inherited from Latin vāgīna (“sheath, scabbard”). The word was pronounced in three syllables, as baína, until late: Sem Tob rhymes it with ayna (“quickly”)…
valiente
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin valens

It is inherited from Old Spanish valiente, inherited from Latin valēns (“strong, vigorous”), the present participle of valeō (“to be strong, to be healthy”). The DLE also analyses it within Spanish…
vergüenza
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin verecundia

It is inherited from Old Spanish vergüença, inherited from Latin verēcundia (“restraint, modesty; shame”). DICCA-XV takes it from a semi-learned form vergundia. Bénaben explains the diphthong by a…
vil
250 BC–184 BC

from Latin vilis

It is inherited from Old Spanish vil, inherited from Latin vīlis (“cheap; of little worth”). The same word is Portuguese vil, Catalan vil, French vil, Italian vile and Romanian vil. De Vaan explains…
ancho
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin amplus

It is inherited from Latin amplus (“wide, large”). It is the popular outcome of the Latin adjective, and amplio is its learned doublet. Covarrubias already derived it from the Latin adjective, with…
beber
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin bibo

It is inherited from Old Spanish bever, inherited from Latin bibō (“to drink”). Wiktionary puts the modern spelling with ⟨b⟩ for the medieval ⟨v⟩ down to the influence of the Latin spelling. The…
campo
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin campus

It is inherited from Old Spanish campo, inherited from Latin campus (“plain, open level ground”). In Latin the land that is tilled was ager; its use for such land is an innovation shared by all the…
canto
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin cantus

1. The word for singing is inherited from Latin cantus (“singing, song”), a noun of action formed from canō (“to sing”). The Latin noun had the same range, “song, singing, playing”, and also…
creer
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin credo

It is inherited from Old Spanish creer, inherited from Latin crēdere (“to believe; to give credence (to someone)”). Old Spanish also had the forms creder, crer and creyer, and the old strong…
diestro
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin dexter

It is inherited from Old Spanish diestro, inherited from Latin dexter (“right, on the right-hand side; skilful”). The feminine continues dextra (“right hand”). Corominas cites the Latin word both in…
flor
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin flos

It is inherited from Old Spanish flor, inherited from Latin flōs (“flower”). The same Latin word is Portuguese flor, Catalan flor, Occitan flor, French fleur, Italian fiore and Romanian floare, and…
hierro
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin ferrum

It is inherited from Old Spanish fierro, inherited from Latin ferrum (“iron, steel”). By the middle of the 16th century the form with ⟨h⟩, silent or aspirated, already prevailed in Biscay, Old…
luego
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin locus

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin locō (“immediately”), the ablative of the Latin noun for “place” used as an adverb. Corominas explains it as a renewal of classical ilicō (“on the spot…
lágrima
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin lacrima

It is inherited from Old Spanish lágrema and lágrima, inherited from Latin lacrima (“tear”). Corominas notes that the word is found at all periods and in every Romance language: Portuguese lágrima…
mar
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin mare

It is inherited from Old Spanish mar, inherited from Latin mare (“sea”). The same word is Portuguese mar, Galician mar, Catalan mar, Occitan mar, French mer, Italian mare and Romanian mare. The…
medio
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin medius

It continues inherited from Latin medius (“middle, half”), with a learned influence of the Latin form on the Spanish one. Regular development would have given meyo and then meo, and both are…
meter
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin mitto

It is inherited from Old Spanish meter, inherited from Latin mittō (“to let go, release; to throw; to send”). The shift from “send” to “put” probably took place in Vulgar Latin. The DHLF and Bénaben…
mil
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin mille

It is inherited from Latin mīlle (“thousand”); Old Spanish mil also had the form mill. It has the same form in Portuguese mil, Catalan mil, Asturian mil and Aragonese mil, and the same Latin word is…
mucho
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin multus

It is inherited from Latin multus (“much, many”). The oldest Spanish form was muito, which was shared with Portuguese and still appears in the Glosas Emilianenses. Bénaben sets out the chain from…
nave
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin navis

It is inherited from Old Spanish nave, inherited from Latin nāvis (“ship”). Wiktionary gives the Old Spanish forms naf and naue. The old word nao, first recorded around 1260, is a separate borrowing…
ojo
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin oculus

It is inherited from Latin oculus (“eye”), in the Vulgar Latin form oclus with the unstressed vowel lost, and Old Spanish already wrote ojo. It is a doublet of the learned óculo. The same Latin word…
onda
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin unda

It is inherited from Old Spanish onda, inherited from Latin unda (“wave, billow; running water”). The same Latin word is Portuguese onda, Galician onda, Asturian onda, Catalan ona, Occitan onda…
oír
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin audio

It is inherited from Old Spanish oir, inherited from Latin audiō (“to hear”). The same Latin verb is Portuguese ouvir, Galician ouvir, Catalan oir, French ouïr, Italian udire and Romanian auzi…
pedir
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin peto

It is inherited from Old Spanish pedir, inherited from Latin petere (“to make for; to seek; to ask for”). The change to the third conjugation, which Wiktionary writes as *petīre, is explained by the…
poco
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin paucus

It is inherited from Latin paucus (“few, small in number”); Old Spanish poco has the same form from the earliest texts. The same Latin word is Portuguese pouco, Galician pouco, Asturian pocu…
precio
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin pretium

It is inherited from Latin pretium (“price, value; reward”), taken over in a semi-learned form; Old Spanish precio is recorded from the end of the 10th century. Corominas finds the learned sound of…
querer
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin quaero

It is inherited from Latin quaerō (“to seek, ask for”); Old Spanish querer has the same form. The change from “to seek, ask for” to “to want” is found only in Castilian, Portuguese querer, Galician…
responder
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin respondeo

It continues inherited from Old Spanish responder, inherited from Latin respondeō (“to answer, reply”). Wiktionary thinks it came through Late Latin respondĕre, of the third conjugation, a change of…
santo
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin sanctus

It is inherited from Old Spanish santo, also written sancto, inherited from Latin sanctus (“holy, sacred”). The Latin adjective is the past participle of sanciō (“to make sacred or inviolable…
tierra
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin terra

It is inherited from Old Spanish tierra, inherited from Latin terra (“dry land, earth”). Corominas notes that the word is frequent from the earliest texts in all its modern senses, which were…
todo
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin totus

It is inherited from Old Spanish todo, inherited from Latin tōtus (“whole, entire”). In Romance it also took over the meaning of omnis (“every, all”), which left traces only in Italian and…
venir
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin venio

It is inherited from Old Spanish venir, inherited from Latin venīre (“to come”). It has been in use at all periods and survives in every Romance language. The same Latin verb is Portuguese vir…
ver
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin video

It is inherited from Old Spanish veer, inherited from Latin videō (“to see”). The modern form is already in the manuscript of the Cid, but Corominas notes that this proves only that it was in use in…
vino
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin vinum

It is inherited from Latin vīnum (“wine”). Old Spanish had the form vino, also written bino. The word is common to all the Romance languages: Portuguese vinho, Galician viño, Asturian vinu, Catalan…
volar
240 BC–207 BC

from Latin volo

It is inherited from Latin volō (“to fly”). The verb is found in every period of Spanish and in all the Romance languages. Wiktionary names volear as its doublet. The same Latin verb is Portuguese…
abrir
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin aperio

It is inherited from Latin aperīre (“to open”). The same Latin verb is Portuguese abrir, Catalan obrir, Occitan obrir, French ouvrir and Italian aprire. The REW explains the forms with ⟨o⟩, still…
alma
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin anima

It is inherited from Old Spanish alma, inherited from Latin anima (“air, breath; soul”). The learned form ánima lived beside the popular one and is still used in rustic speech, especially of the…
amar
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin amo

It is inherited from Latin amō (“to love”); Old Spanish amar has the modern form from the first texts. The same verb is Portuguese amar, Galician amar, Catalan amar, Italian amare and French aimer…
ambos
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin ambo

It is inherited from Latin ambōs (“both”). The usual Old Spanish form was amos, the only truly Castilian one. The form with ⟨b⟩ lived on beside it, first as a Leonese form, and then spread with the…
amigo
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin amicus

It is inherited from Old Spanish amigo, inherited from Latin amīcus (“friend”), which is formed from amō (“to love”). The same Latin word is Portuguese amigo, Galician amigo, Asturian amigu, Catalan…
amor
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin amor

It is inherited from Latin amor (“love, passion”); Old Spanish amor has the same form. The Latin noun is formed from amō (“to love”) with the suffix -or. The same Latin word is Portuguese amor…
ave
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin avis

It is inherited from Old Spanish ave, inherited from Latin avis (“bird”). The Glosas Silenses gloss the plural as Latin volatilias, which suggests to Corominas that the word was not equally popular…
ayer
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin heri

It continues inherited from Old Spanish yer, also eri, which is inherited from Latin herī (“yesterday”), with an a- added at the front. Corominas explains this a- as in así. Gómez de Silva and…
año
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin annus

It is inherited from Old Spanish anno, inherited from Latin annus (“year”). The same Latin word is Portuguese ano, Galician ano, Asturian añu, Catalan any, French an, Italian anno and Romanian an…
callo
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin callum

It is inherited from Latin callum (“hard skin, callus”). The Latin /ll/ became the palatal /ʎ/ written ⟨ll⟩, which in most of the Spanish-speaking world is now pronounced /ʝ/. The same word is…
cantar
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin canto

It is inherited from Latin cantō (“to sing”), the frequentative of canō (“to sing”). The noun cantar “song” is the infinitive used as a noun, recorded from the Cantar de mio Cid on. The same Latin…
carne
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin caro

It is inherited from Old Spanish carne, inherited from Latin carō (“flesh, meat”); like the other Romance forms it continues the stem carn- of the other cases. The same word is Portuguese carne…
claro
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin clarus

It is inherited from Latin clārus (“loud; bright, clear”); Old Spanish claro has the same form. The initial /kl-/ is unusual: an inherited word would be expected to become ⟨*llaro⟩, with the palatal…
colar
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin colo

It is inherited from Latin cōlāre (“to strain, filter”), derived from cōlum (“strainer, colander”). The Latin noun is a rustic technical word without a clear etymology. The same verb is Portuguese…
común
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin communis

It continues inherited from Latin commūnis (“common, shared”). Corominas dates the noun to Berceo and the adjective only to the 14th century, and takes this late appearance, and the almost exclusive…
contra
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin contra

It is inherited from Latin contrā (“opposite, against”). As a preposition the word was mostly unstressed, so its vowel was treated as unstressed; but Latin's adverbial use survived in part, and with…
correr
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin curro

It is inherited from Old Spanish correr, inherited from Latin currere (“to run”). The same Latin verb is Portuguese correr, Catalan córrer, French courir, Italian correre and Romanian curge. The…
cuello
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin collum

It is inherited from Old Spanish cuello, inherited from Latin collum (“neck”). The short stressed /o/ of the Latin word gave the diphthong /we/ in Castilian, unlike Catalan. The same word is…
dedo
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin digitus

It is inherited from Old Spanish dedo, inherited from Latin digitus (“finger, toe”). The same word is Portuguese dedo, Galician dedo, Catalan dit, French doigt, Italian dito and Romanian deget…
dos
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin duo

It is inherited from Old Spanish dos, inherited from Latin duōs (“two”), the accusative form: as usual, Romance generalised the Latin accusative. The /u/ was pronounced as a close /o/ in late Vulgar…
entero
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin integer

It is inherited from Latin integer (“untouched, intact, whole”), in the Vulgar Latin pronunciation intēgrum with the stress on the second syllable. Since Latin /ɡr/ between vowels normally gave…

All Spanish words inherited from Latin, by century →