500–401 BC

Spanish words from Latin words first recorded in the 5th century BC

65 Spanish words inherited from a Latin word whose earliest known written record dates from the 5th century BC, earliest Latin record first (page 2).

1. vos

   450 BC

   from Latin vos

   It is inherited from Latin vōs (“you (plural)”). The same pronoun is Portuguese vós, Galician vós, Asturian vós, Catalan vós, Occitan vos, French vous, Italian voi and Romanian voi. vōs continues…

2. vía

   450 BC

   from Latin via

   It is inherited from Latin via (“road, street; journey”). The same Latin word survives in all the western Romance languages: Portuguese via, Catalan via, Occitan via, French voie and Italian via. De…

3. y

   450 BC

   from Latin et

   It is inherited from Latin et (“and”), through Old Spanish e. The earliest texts write that form, and Nebrija (c. 1495) gives i beside it. The form e survives before words that begin with /i/. The…

4. ya

   450 BC

   from Latin iam

   It is inherited from Old Spanish ya, inherited from Latin iam (“now, already”). The same word is Portuguese já, Galician xa, Asturian yá, Catalan ja and Italian già. French déjà is formed from dès…

5. él

   450 BC

   from Latin ille

   It is inherited from Latin ille (“that, that one”), in its stressed form. The unstressed form of the same Latin word became the article el. The feminine ella comes from illa and the neuter ello from…

All Spanish words inherited from Latin, by century →