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 5).

grano
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin granum

It is inherited from Latin grānum (“grain, seed”), and Old Spanish grano has the same form in the earliest texts. The Latin plural grāna gave grana, first “seeds of plants” and then the kermes used…
grave
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin gravis

It continues inherited from Latin gravis (“heavy; serious, weighty”), and Old Spanish already had the same form grave. Corominas calls it a noble word, frequent from the oldest texts on, and Vox…
greda
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin creta

It is inherited from Latin crēta (“chalk; fine clay”). The initial ⟨cr-⟩ became ⟨gr-⟩, a regular change in García de Diego's view. The learned variant greta and the adjective cretáceo come from the…
gustar
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin gusto

It continues inherited from Old Spanish gostar, inherited from Latin gustō (“to taste”). The form with /u/ is learned: García de Diego calls the modern form a cultismo beside the popular gostar, and…
hado
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin fatum

It continues inherited from Latin fātum (“prediction, oracle; destiny”); Old Spanish wrote it fado. The Latin noun is the neuter past participle of for (“to speak”), so “what has been said”; it goes…
hechizo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin facticius

It is inherited from Old Spanish fechizo, inherited from Latin factīcius (“made by art, artificial”). The Latin adjective is formed from factus (“made”), the past participle of faciō (“to make…
hembra
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin femina

It is inherited from Old Spanish fembra, earlier femna, inherited from Latin fēmina (“woman, female”). Gómez de Silva compares the change of the cluster /mn/ to /mbr/ with the suffix -dumbre. Its…
herir
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin ferio

It is inherited from Latin ferīre (“to strike, hit”), first written ferir. The same Latin verb is Portuguese ferir, Galician ferir, Asturian firir, Aragonese ferir, Catalan ferir, Occitan ferir, Old…
hilo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin filum

It is inherited from Old Spanish filo, inherited from Latin fīlum (“thread”). The forms with /f/ held on in the transferred sense “cutting edge of a blade”, unknown in Latin but common to the…
hongo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin fungus

It is inherited from Old Spanish fongo, inherited from Latin fungus (“mushroom, fungus”). The Latin word lives on as a popular word in Italian fungo and in the Raeto-Romance dialects; Portuguese…
honor
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin honor

It is inherited from Latin honor (“honour, esteem”); Old Spanish had onor. Latin also had the older form honōs, which Cicero still preferred. Its origin is unknown: de Vaan notes that the Latin root…
hora
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin hora

It is inherited from Latin hōra (“hour”), which was borrowed from Greek ὥρα (hṓra, “period of time, division of the day, hour”). The same Latin word is Portuguese hora, Catalan hora, French heure…
humo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin fumus

It is inherited from Old Spanish fumo, inherited from Latin fūmus (“smoke”). The same word is common to all the Romance languages: Portuguese fumo, Galician fume, Catalan fum, Occitan fum, Italian…
joven
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin iuvenis

It is inherited from Old Spanish joven, inherited from Latin iuvenis (“young; young man”), but a semi-learned word rather than a popular one. Inherited in the popular way, the Latin word would have…
junco
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin iuncus

1. The word for the rush is inherited from Latin iuncus (“rush, reed”); Old Spanish junco was also written yunco. It is a word in general use at all periods, and common to all the western Romance…
juzgar
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin iudico

It is inherited from Latin iūdicāre (“to judge”), through Old Spanish judgar. Corominas treats it under juez, its Latin base iūdex being the source of that word. Wiktionary names the borrowed…
lado
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin latus

It is inherited from Old Spanish lado, inherited from Latin latus (“side, flank”). Because the Latin word was a neuter of the third declension, its accusative was the same as its nominative, and the…
lago
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin lacus

It is inherited from Old Spanish lago, inherited from Latin lacus (“basin, tank; pond, lake”). The Latin word also meant any reservoir of liquid, and in that sense it gave lagar “wine press”, found…
largo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin largus

It is inherited from Latin largus (“abundant, considerable; generous”). The modern sense “long” replaced the older luengo, from Latin longus, only at the end of the Middle Ages. The same Latin word…
lecho
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin lectus

It is inherited from Latin lectus (“bed, couch”). The early spellings Old Spanish leito, lieto and leycho come before lecho in the records. The same Latin word is Portuguese leito, Galician leito…
librar
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin libero

It is inherited from Latin līberāre (“to set free”), from līber (“free”). It is a popular word, and a doublet of liberar, a learned borrowing of the same verb first recorded in the second half of…
llamar
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin clamo

It is inherited from Old Spanish clamar, inherited from Latin clāmō (“to shout, cry out”). The older spelling with ⟨cl⟩ is normal in Berceo and other early texts, while the Cid already has the form…
llave
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin clavis

It is inherited from Latin clāvis (“key; bar, bolt”). Latin initial cl- became the palatal /ʎ/, written ⟨ll⟩, as in llamar from clāmō. The learned doublet clave is recorded from about 1570, in…
llevar
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin levo

It is inherited from Old Spanish levar, inherited from Latin levāre (“to lighten, relieve; to raise”). The initial /ʎ/ arose in the forms stressed on the root, such as lieva from levat, where the…
madera
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin materia

It is inherited from Old Spanish madera, inherited from Latin māteria (“wood of a tree; timber; material, matter”). In Latin the word was the timber for building, as against lignum, the wood for…
maduro
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin maturus

It is inherited from Old Spanish maduro, inherited from Latin mātūrus (“ripe; timely”). The same Latin word is Portuguese maduro, Galician maduro, Asturian maduru, Catalan madur, Occitan madur…
magro
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin macer

It is inherited from Latin macer (“thin, lean”), through Old Spanish magro. The word is common to all the Romance languages: Portuguese magro, Galician magro, Catalan magre, Occitan magre, French…
mama
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin mamma

It continues inherited from Latin mamma (“mother; breast”). The sense “mother” is as old as the language, while the sense “breast” is a scientific term taken from Latin by learned means, at the…
manco
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin mancus

It is inherited from Latin mancus (“maimed, crippled; incomplete”), which could be said of any injured part of the body. The word is common to all the western Romance languages: Portuguese manco…
marido
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin maritus

It is inherited from Latin marītus (“married; husband”), with the same form in Old Spanish, marido. The Latin word was first an adjective, “married, conjugal”, also used in farming of trees “wedded”…
masa
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin massa

It is inherited from Old Spanish massa, inherited from Latin massa (“lump, mass; dough”). The word is in general use at all periods and common to all the western Romance languages: Portuguese massa…
medir
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin metior

It continues inherited from Latin mētior (“to measure”). Spanish, like Portuguese, continues an active form of this deponent verb, which Nascentes gives for the Portuguese verb as Vulgar Latin…
menor
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin minor

It is inherited from Old Spanish menor, inherited from Latin minor (“smaller, less”), from the accusative form. In Latin it served as the comparative of parvus (“small”), and its neuter is minus…
mentir
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin mentior

It is inherited from Latin mentīrī (“to lie”); Old Spanish mentir already has the modern form. Bénaben and Cunha start from a Vulgar Latin active *mentīre, which replaced the deponent verb of the…
menudo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin minutus

It is inherited from Latin minūtus (“small, little”), the past participle of minuō (“to lessen”). The same word is Portuguese miúdo, Galician miúdo, Catalan menut, Occitan menut, French menu…
mercado
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin mercatus

It is inherited from Latin mercātus (“trade, traffic; market”). The Latin noun is derived from mercor (“to buy, trade”), itself from merx (“goods, merchandise”). The BDELC places it in one family…
merced
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin merces

It is inherited from Old Spanish merced, inherited from Latin mercēs (“pay, wages, reward”), by a semi-learned path. The same Latin word is Portuguese mercê, Galician mercé, Catalan mercè, Occitan…
mes
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin mensis

It is inherited from Latin mēnsis (“month”). Latin /ns/ was reduced to /s/, as in mesa from mēnsa and peso from pēnsum. The same Latin word is Portuguese mês, Galician mes, Asturian mes, Catalan…
mirar
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin miror

It is inherited from Old Spanish mirar, inherited from Latin mīror (“to wonder at, admire”). The Portuguese and Spanish verbs continue the active form mirāre, which replaced the deponent. The same…
morder
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin mordeo

It is inherited from Old Spanish morder, inherited from Latin mordeō (“to bite”). The same verb is Portuguese morder, Catalan morder, Occitan morder, French mordre and Italian mordere. Corominas…
mostrar
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin monstro

It is inherited from Latin mōnstrāre (“to show, point out; advise”). The word is found in every period and in all the Romance languages: Portuguese mostrar, Galician mostrar, Catalan mostrar, French…
mover
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin moveo

It is inherited from Old Spanish mover, inherited from Latin moveō (“to move”). The word has been in use in every period and is common to all the western Romance languages: Portuguese mover…
mueble
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin mobilis

It is inherited from Old Spanish moeble, inherited from Latin mōbilis (“movable”). Corominas explains the stressed /ue/, where Latin had a long /oː/, by the influence of the stressed forms of the…
mundo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin mundus

It is inherited from Old Spanish mundo, inherited from Latin mundus (“world”), kept in a semi-learned form. A fully popular development would have given mondo, which Corominas finds in the Auto de…
nasa
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin nassa

It is inherited from Latin nassa (“wicker fish trap”). The same Latin word is Portuguese nassa, Galician nasa, Catalan nansa, French nasse and Italian nassa. Coromines explains the ⟨n⟩ of the…
negar
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin nego

It is inherited from Latin negō (“to say no, deny, refuse”). The same Latin verb is Portuguese negar, Galician negar, Asturian negar, Catalan negar, Occitan negar, French nier and Italian negare…
negro
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin niger

It is inherited from Latin niger (“black, dark”). It is the Latin word for the colour, used of the body and figuratively of what is gloomy or ill-omened, as the opposite of albus and candidus. The…
nuevo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin novus

It is inherited from Latin novus (“new”). Old Spanish wrote it nuevo, mostly spelt ⟨nueuo⟩, with the rarer ⟨nouo⟩. The same Latin word is Portuguese novo, Galician novo, Asturian nuevu, Aragonese…
obrero
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin operarius

It is inherited from Latin operārius (“labourer, workman”). Wiktionary notes that it can also be analysed within Spanish as obra with the suffix -ero. Its learned doublet is operario, borrowed at…
oler
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin oleo

It is inherited from Latin oleō (“to give off a smell; to smell of”); Old Spanish oler has the same form from the first texts. The same Latin verb is Galician olir, Catalan oldre, Italian olire and…
onza
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin uncia

1. The word for the unit of weight is inherited from Latin uncia (“a twelfth part; ounce”). The OLD and Vox derive the Latin word from ūnus (“one”). Lewis and Short compare Ancient Greek οὐγκία…
palo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin palus

It is inherited from Old Spanish palo, inherited from Latin pālus (“stake, post”). The original sense, shared with the other Romance languages, is a piece of wood longer than it is thick. The same…
pan
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin panis

It continues inherited from Latin pānis (“bread”). Old Spanish had the same form pan. The word is common to all the Romance languages: Portuguese pão, Galician pan, Catalan pa, French pain, Italian…
panza
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pantex

It is inherited from Old Spanish pança, inherited from Latin pantex (“belly, guts”). The Latin noun was masculine and mostly used in the plural. Its origin is not clear: the OLD compares pānus…
parar
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin paro

It is inherited from Old Spanish parar, inherited from Latin parō (“to prepare, arrange, provide”). The Latin verb meant “to make ready, dispose, furnish”, and the Spanish senses grew out of that of…
pariente
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin parens

It is inherited from Old Spanish pariente, inherited from Latin parēns (“parent”). Its plural meant “father and mother”, and in Late Latin it came to mean “relatives”, the only sense kept in…
paz
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pax

It is inherited from Latin pāx (“peace; a settlement”), with the same form in Old Spanish, paz. The DCECH notes that the word has been in general use at every period. The same word is Portuguese…
paño
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pannus

It is inherited from Latin pannus (“piece of cloth, rag”). The word was inherited by all the western Romance languages, but the wider Spanish sense “cloth” is shared only by Portuguese and Italian…
pecar
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pecco

It is inherited from Old Spanish pecar, inherited from Latin pecco (“to make a mistake, do wrong”), but only as a semi-learned word. Corominas notes that the stressed /e/ never diphthongizes, from…
peligro
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin periculum

It is inherited from Old Spanish periglo, inherited from Latin perīculum (“trial, test; danger”), by a semi-learned route. Wiktionary notes that a fully popular outcome would have been *perijo, and…

All Spanish words inherited from Latin, by century →