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 6).

percibir
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin percipio

It continues inherited from Latin percipiō (“to seize; to gather; to perceive”). Vox calls it a popular word, not a learned one. The Latin verb, whose first senses were “to take possession of” and…
perseguir
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin persequor

It is inherited from Old Spanish perseguir, inherited from Latin persequor (“to follow persistently; to pursue”). As with seguir, the deponent infinitive of the Latin verb was replaced by an active…
pez
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin piscis

1. The word for the fish is inherited from Old Spanish pez, inherited from Latin piscis (“fish”). The same word is Portuguese peixe, Galician peixe, Asturian pexe, Catalan peix, Occitan peis…
piel
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pellis

It is inherited from Latin pellis (“skin, hide”), and Old Spanish had pielle beside piel. The Latin vowel was a short /e/. In the popular Latin of the Empire the word, first the skin of an animal…
pisar
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pinso

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin pinsāre (“to pound, crush”), a first-conjugation variant of the classical third-conjugation verb “to beat, pound, crush”. Corominas notes that this variant, and a…
placer
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin placeo

It is inherited from Latin placeō (“to please”). The noun placer “pleasure” is the infinitive used as a noun, already in the 12th century. The same Latin verb is Portuguese prazer, Galician pracer…
pluma
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pluma

It is inherited from Latin plūma (“feather, down”), recorded in Spanish from a charter of 1195. The word keeps the Latin cluster /pl/, which in inherited words normally became /ʎ/ (⟨ll⟩). A popular…
pobre
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pauper

It is inherited from Latin pauper (“poor”). Castilian and Portuguese continue the classical accusative, with one form for both genders, while the other western Romance languages start from the Late…
pollo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pullus

It is inherited from Latin pullus (“young of an animal; chicken”). The Latin noun first meant the young of any animal, and was also used as an adjective, “very small”; this explains why the feminine…
ponzoña
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin potio

It is inherited from Old Spanish pozón, inherited from Latin pōtiō (“a drink, draught; a poisoned draught”), with its present form reshaped by the verb emponzoñar or ponzoñar “to poison”. Corominas…
poseer
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin possideo

It is inherited from Latin possideō (“to hold, occupy, possess”). The Latin verb is formed from potis (“able, master of”) and sedeō (“to sit”), and was first used of holding land or property. Gómez…
primero
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin primarius

It is inherited from Old Spanish primero, inherited from Latin prīmārius (“of the first rank, chief”). In the Hispanic and Gallo-Romance languages and part of Rhaeto-Romance it replaced prīmus…
privado
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin privatus

It is inherited from Latin prīvātus (“set apart; private”), the past participle of prīvō (“to deprive, set apart”), which Spanish continues as privar. Corominas sees no decisive reason to regard the…
prometer
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin promitto

It is inherited from Old Spanish prometer, inherited from Latin prōmittō (“to send forth; to promise”). Corominas dates it to the second half of the 10th century. The same Latin verb is Portuguese…
puerta
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin porta

It is inherited from Latin porta (“gate, large door”). Classical Latin tended to keep that word for a city gate, calling the door of a house ostium or ianua, and the door of a room fores; the…
puro
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin purus

It is inherited from Latin pūrus (“clean, pure”), and Old Spanish puro has the same form. The word is common to the western Romance languages: Portuguese puro, Catalan pur, Occitan pur, French pur…
quitar
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin quietus

Corominas and Pascual take it as semi-learned, inherited from Latin quiētus (“at rest, calm; free from war”), whose sense in legal and religious language was “released from a debt or obligation”…
rayo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin radius

It is inherited from Latin radius (“rod; spoke of a wheel; ray of light”). The learned doublet radio is recorded from the early 18th century. De Vaan thinks a link with rādīx (“root”) unlikely…
razón
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin ratio

It is inherited from Latin ratio (“calculation, account; reasoning, reason”), through Old Spanish razon. The Latin noun is derived from ratus (“counted, fixed”), the past participle of reor (“to…
raíz
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin radix

It is inherited from Old Spanish rayz, inherited from Latin rādīx (“root”). Berceo uses the modern form but in one poem still the older form radiz. The Latin word is inherited by all the Western…
recibir
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin recipio

It is inherited from Old Spanish recebir, inherited from Latin recipiō (“to take back, receive”). Corominas glosses the Latin verb as “to take, seize” and “to receive”. Henríquez Ureña considers the…
recordar
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin recordor

It is inherited from Latin recordor (“to call to mind, remember”); Old Spanish recordar has the same form. The Spanish verb is a popular word, not a learned borrowing. The same Latin verb is…
red
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin rete

It is inherited from Old Spanish red, inherited from Latin rēte (“net”). The Latin word was neuter, but popular Latin already had a feminine rētis, and more rarely a masculine one; the masculine…
reina
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin regina

It is inherited from Old Spanish reyna, inherited from Latin rēgīna (“queen”). The Latin word was first stressed on the ⟨i⟩, as Old Spanish reína still was; the stress moved to the diphthong ⟨ei⟩ by…
reprender
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin reprehendo

It is inherited from Latin reprendō (“to hold back, catch; to censure”), the contracted form of the Latin verb. The Latin verb is formed from re- (“back”) and prehendō (“to grasp, seize”), the…
retener
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin retineo

It is inherited from Old Spanish retener, inherited from Latin retineō (“to hold back, keep”). Wiktionary calls it a borrowing from Latin conjugated like tener, while Vox calls it a native word. The…
rever
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin revideo

It is inherited from Latin revideō (“to see again, revisit”), according to the DLE, Moliner and Wikcionario. Autoridades and DICCA-XV instead analyse it as formed from Spanish re- + ver. The Latin…
riba
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin ripa

It is inherited from Old Spanish riba, inherited from Latin rīpa (“bank of a river”). The voicing of Latin /p/ between vowels gave the /b/, and the spelling with ⟨b⟩ is constant in the old texts…
saco
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin saccus

It is inherited from Old Spanish saco, inherited from Latin saccus (“sack, bag; coarse garment”). The Latin word was borrowed from Ancient Greek σάκκος (sákkos, “sack; sackcloth”), which also meant…
salir
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin salio

It is inherited from Old Spanish salir, inherited from Latin salīre (“to jump, leap; to spring forth”). The sense “to go out” is already usual in the earliest Spanish, but the Latin sense “to jump”…
saltar
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin salto

It is inherited from Old Spanish saltar, inherited from Latin saltāre (“to dance; to hop”). The Latin verb meant mainly “to dance” and only sometimes “to hop, frisk”; it is the intensive or…
salud
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin salus

It is inherited from Latin salūtem (“health; safety; greeting”), the accusative of the Latin noun. The Latin noun is from the same root as salvus (“whole, safe”), and de Vaan traces both to…
sangre
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin sanguis

It is inherited from Latin sanguis (“blood”), which passed through the older Spanish form sangne. Wiktionary explains the change of /n/ to /ɾ/ as a dissimilation of the two nasal consonants that met…
sano
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin sanus

It is inherited from Latin sānus (“healthy; sane”), which also meant “sensible, in one's right mind”. The same Latin word is Portuguese são, Galician san, Asturian sanu, Catalan sa, Occitan san…
seco
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin siccus

It is inherited from Latin siccus (“dry”), with the same form in Old Spanish seco. The word is common to all the Romance languages: Portuguese seco, Galician seco, Asturian secu, Catalan sec…
seda
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin saeta

It is probably inherited from Latin saeta (“bristle of a pig or horse; fishing line”), which in the Middle Ages must have come to be used of silk thread, as the agreement of the Romance languages…
seis
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin sex

It is inherited from Old Spanish seis, inherited from Latin sex (“six”). The same Latin word is Portuguese seis, Galician seis, Catalan sis, French six, Italian sei and Romanian șase. The Latin…
sendos
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin singulus

It is inherited from Old Spanish sennos, inherited from Latin singulī (“one apiece, one to each”), taken in its accusative plural. Corominas derives it from the plural in the sense “one each”. Old…
sentir
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin sentio

It is inherited from Latin sentiō (“to perceive by the senses; to realise; to think, hold an opinion”), and Old Spanish sentir has the same form. The present sientet already occurs in the Glosas…
sereno
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin serenus

It is inherited from Latin serēnus (“clear, cloudless; calm”). The same word is Portuguese sereno, Galician sereo, Asturian serenu, Catalan serè, French serein and Italian sereno. The noun “night…
servir
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin servio

It is inherited from Latin servīre (“to be a slave; to serve”), derived from servus (“slave”). It is common to all the western Romance languages: Portuguese servir, Galician servir, Catalan servir…
siete
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin septem

It is inherited from Latin septem (“seven”). The stressed short /e/ of the Latin word became the diphthong ⟨ie⟩, as in the other Ibero-Romance languages. Lanchetas compares the development of nepta…
siglo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin saeculum

It is inherited from Old Spanish sieglo, inherited from Latin saeculum (“generation; lifetime; age”). Corominas calls it a semi-learned descendant of the Latin word, and Wiktionary notes that a…
soler
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin soleo

The verb meaning “to be accustomed” is inherited from Old Spanish soler, inherited from Latin soleō (“to be used to”), and has been in use since the Cid. The same Latin verb gave Italian solere, Old…
sombra
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin umbra

It continues inherited from Latin umbra (“shade, shadow”) with an added ⟨s-⟩, which only Spanish and Portuguese have. Corominas thinks the ⟨s-⟩ most likely came from sol and its derivatives, because…
sonar
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin sono

1. The word for “to sound” is inherited from Latin sono (“to sound”); the Old Spanish form was already sonar. It is common to all the Romance languages: Portuguese soar, Galician soar, Catalan…
sostener
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin sustineo

It is inherited from Latin sustineō (“to hold up, support”). The Latin verb is formed from sub- (“under”) and teneō (“to hold”), the source of tener. De Vaan traces the simple verb to…
sueldo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin solidus

It is inherited from Late Latin solidus (“a gold coin”), the classical Latin adjective “solid” used as a noun. Wiktionary gives the chain through the contracted soldus. The contracted form already…
suelo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin solum

It is inherited from Old Spanish suelo, inherited from Latin solum (“base, bottom; ground; the land one lives in”). The Latin word had a short ⟨ŏ⟩. The same word is Portuguese solo, Galician solo…
suerte
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin sors

It is inherited from Old Spanish suerte, inherited from Latin sors (“lot”). The Glosas Silenses still write sorte with the Latin vowel; suert, with the diphthong, is found in a charter of 1199, and…
suspirar
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin suspiro

It is inherited from Old Spanish sospirar, inherited from Latin suspīrō (“to sigh”). García de Diego calls the modern form with ⟨u⟩ a learned word beside the old one. Vox calls it a word inherited…
tabla
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin tabula

It is inherited from Latin tabula (“board, plank; gaming board; writing tablet”). Like fabla from fābula and establo from stabulum, it lost the vowel after the stress, which Lanchetas says had first…
tal
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin talis

It is inherited from Latin tālis (“of such a kind, such”); Old Spanish tal already had the modern form. Corominas notes that the word has been in general use at every period and is common to all the…
techo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin tectum

It is inherited from Latin tēctum (“roof; dwelling”), the neuter past participle of tegō (“to cover, hide, protect”) used as a noun. Corominas notes that it has been in general use at all periods…
tela
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin tela

It is inherited from Old Spanish tela, inherited from Latin tēla (“cloth on a loom, web”). The same Latin word is Portuguese teia (older tea), Galician tea, Catalan tela, Occitan tela, French toile…
tender
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin tendo

It is inherited from Old Spanish tender, inherited from Latin tendō (“to stretch, spread out”). Corominas notes that the verb has been in general use at every period of Spanish. In the present forms…
tentar
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin tempto

It is inherited from Old Spanish tentar, inherited from Latin temptō (“to touch, feel; to try; to tempt”). The Latin verb was also spelt tentō, the form the DLE gives. Corominas notes that the…
tesoro
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin thesaurus

It is inherited from Latin thēsaurus (“treasure; storehouse”), from Ancient Greek θησαυρός (thēsaurós, “storehouse, treasure”). Meyer-Lübke considered it a semi-learned word; Corominas allows this…
tiempo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin tempus

It is inherited from Old Spanish tiempo, inherited from Latin tempus (“time”), continuing the Latin accusative, which had the same form as the nominative. The regular outcome would have been a…
tierno
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin tener

It is inherited from Latin tener (“soft, delicate, young”). After the unstressed middle vowel was lost, the consonants /n/ and /r/ came together and changed places, /nr/ becoming /rn/. The form…

All Spanish words inherited from Latin, by century →