Spanish words from Latin
1854 Spanish words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 13).
generosidad
It is borrowed from Latin generōsitas (“nobility of birth, excellence of stock”), first found in the Old Spanish form generosidat in 1293. Wiktionary gives, as an alternative, from Spanish generoso…
genio
It is borrowed from Latin genius (“tutelary deity of a person; inborn nature”), a learned word, like all its Spanish derivatives. The Latin noun is derived from gigno (“to beget”). Wiktionary traces…
gente
It is inherited from Old Spanish yente, inherited from Latin gēns (“clan, race; the people of a country”), the modern form being a relatinisation of the Old Spanish word. The inherited form prevails…
gentil
It is borrowed from Latin gentīlis (“of the same family or clan; of a nation; pagan”), first recorded in the sense “pagan” in the Glosas Silenses of the late 10th century. Corominas traces the…
geométrico
It is borrowed from Latin geōmetricus (“of geometry”), a learned word, from Ancient Greek γεωμετρικός (geōmetrikós, “of or for geometry”). The Greek adjective is formed from γεωμέτρης (geōmétrēs…
girar
It is borrowed from Latin gȳrāre (“to turn round in a circle”), from gȳrus (“circle”), which was taken from Ancient Greek γῦρος (gûros, “circle, ring”). Corominas treats it as a learned word, used…
giro
It is borrowed from Latin gȳrus (“circle; circular course”), which is from Ancient Greek γῦρος (gûros, “circle”). Corominas calls it a rare and very learned word in the Golden Age, typical of the…
gleba
It is borrowed from Latin glēba (“lump of earth, clod”), a learned word. The inherited outcome of the Latin word survives in Portuguese leiva (“ridge of earth between furrows; clod”), which Cunha…
glóbulo
It is borrowed from Latin globulus (“little ball, globule; pill”), a diminutive of globus (“ball, round mass”). The Latin diminutive is formed with the suffix -ulus and is rare in classical texts…
gloria
It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin glōria (“fame, renown”), through gloria in Old Spanish. Corominas calls it an old and well-rooted learned word, in general use already in the Middle…
gobernador
It is inherited from Old Spanish gouernador, inherited from Latin gubernātor (“helmsman, pilot”). Corominas lists it among the derivatives of gobernar, from gubernō (“to steer a ship; to govern”)…
gobernar
It is inherited from Old Spanish governar, inherited from Latin gubernō (“to steer a ship; to direct, govern”). The Latin verb was taken from Ancient Greek κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “to steer”). Beekes…
gola
It is inherited from Old Spanish gola, inherited from Latin gula (“throat, gullet”). Corominas, however, finds the word foreign to Castilian and of several origins: its early sense “gluttony” and…
golpe
It is inherited from Old Spanish colpe, inherited from Vulgar Latin *colŭpus, a popular form of Latin colaphus (“a punch”), which is from Ancient Greek κόλαφος (kólaphos, “a slap, buffet”)…
goma
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin gumma (“gum”), a late form of cummi or gummi, which is from Ancient Greek κόμμι (kómmi, “gum”). Corominas notes that this late form already appears in the Latin…
gota
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…
gracioso
It is borrowed from Latin grātiōsus (“enjoying favour; obliging”), formed on grātia (“favour, gratitude”) with the suffix -ōsus. Corominas instead lists it among the derivatives of gracia, itself a…
grada
1. The word for the step is inherited from Old Spanish grada, a feminine form from Old Spanish grado (“step; rank”). Wiktionary compares the change of gender with Late Latin puncta beside punctus…
grado
1. The word for “degree, step” is inherited from Old Spanish grado (“step; rank”), inherited from Latin gradus (“step, pace; stair; degree”). Corominas notes that the word has been strongly…
gramatical
It is borrowed from Latin grammaticālis (“of grammar”). Lewis & Short cite the Latin adjective from Sidonius Apollinaris. It is formed from grammatica (“grammar, philology”) with the suffix -ālis…
granada
It is inherited from Latin grānātum (“pomegranate”), short for mālum grānātum (“seeded apple”). The Latin adjective grānātus (“containing many seeds”) is formed from grānum (“grain, seed”), and was…
grande
It is inherited from Latin grandis (“full-grown, large”); the Old Spanish form was already grande. The Latin word meant “grandiose” and “advanced in age”, and was more at home in spoken Latin than…
granero
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…
grano
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…
grasa
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin grassa (“fat”), the feminine of the adjective grassus (“fat, thick”) used as a noun. The Vulgar Latin adjective, found as early as Pelagonius in the 4th century…
graso
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin grassus, from crassus (“fat, thick”), changed under the influence of grossus (“thick”). The form with ⟨g-⟩ is already found in Late Latin authors such as Pelagonius…
grave
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
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…
gritar
It continues inherited from Vulgar Latin *crītāre (“to cry out”), which is probably a contraction of Latin quirītō (“to cry out for help, raise a public outcry”). The word is common to the western…
grito
It is a deverbal noun from Spanish gritar (“to shout”). Corominas records the noun (1220–1250) a century earlier than the verb (1335). The verb is shared by the western Romance languages, as Catalan…
grueso
It is inherited from Latin grossus (“thick, bulky”), through Old Spanish gruesso. The DLE calls the Latin word Late Latin; it is recorded from the 1st century. The DHLF and Bénaben describe it as an…
guerra
It is inherited from Old Spanish guerra, borrowed from Medieval Latin werra, which is from Frankish *werʀu (“confusion; quarrel”). The BDELC and García de Diego name a Germanic, Frankish or West…
gustar
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…
gusto
It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin gustus (“tasting; taste”). It replaced the popular Old Spanish gosto; the learned word has a more abstract meaning. Corominas notes that Portuguese…
haber
It is inherited from Old Spanish aver, inherited from Latin habēre (“to have, hold, possess”). The same Latin verb is Portuguese haver, Catalan haver, Asturian haber, Aragonese aber, French avoir…
hábil
It is borrowed from Latin habilis (“easy to handle; well fitted, apt”), a learned word. The Latin adjective is formed from habeō (“to have, hold”) with the suffix -ilis. Wiktionary also allows a…
hábito
It is borrowed from Latin habitus (“way of being, outward appearance; dress”), a learned word. This noun is formed from Latin habeō (“to have, hold”) + -tus. In Late Latin the noun came to mean a…
hablar
It is inherited from Old Spanish fablar, inherited from Latin fābulārī (“to talk, converse”), a familiar Latin verb derived from fābula (“conversation; story, fable”), itself from fārī (“to speak”)…
hacer
It is inherited from Old Spanish fazer, inherited from Latin faciō (“to make, do”). The oldest record is the short infinitive fere of the Glosas Emilianenses, and a charter of 1030 has facer. The…
hacienda
It is inherited from Latin facienda (“things to be done”), the neuter plural of the gerundive of faciō (“to do, make”), through Old Spanish fazienda. The change of Latin /f/ to Spanish ⟨h⟩ is the…
hado
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…
halcón
It is inherited from Old Spanish falcón, inherited from Late Latin falcō (“falcon”). The modern ⟨h⟩ stands for the Latin /f/, and falcón survives as a doublet. The same word is Portuguese falcão…
hallar
It is inherited from Old Spanish fallar, inherited from Latin afflō (“to blow or breathe upon”). That verb is formed from Latin ad- + flō (“to blow”). De Vaan reconstructs a root Proto-Indo-European…
hambre
It is inherited from Old Spanish fambre, earlier famne, inherited from Vulgar Latin *famen (“hunger”), a Vulgar Latin form of Latin famēs (“hunger”). The DCECH starts from the Vulgar Latin…
hechizo
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…
hecho
It is inherited from Old Spanish fecho, inherited from Latin factum (“deed, act”), the neuter of factus (“done, made”), the past participle of faciō (“to do, make”), whose Spanish descendant is…
hechura
It continues inherited from Latin factūra (“a making; make, fashion”); Old Spanish wrote it fechura. Corominas treats it in the article on hacer, with records from Berceo's praises of the Virgin and…
helar
It is inherited from Latin gelō (“to freeze”). Old Spanish wrote it elar, as in Berceo, and yelar.^(DEMel|s.v. helar(se)) Covarrubias in 1611 still spelt it ⟨elar⟩, explaining it as almost ⟨ielar⟩…
hembra
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…
heredar
It is inherited from Late Latin hērēditō (“to inherit”). The Late Latin verb survives in all the Romance languages of Hispania, Gaul, Raetia and Sardinia: Portuguese herdar, Galician herdar…
hereditario
It is borrowed from Latin hereditarius (“of or relating to an inheritance”), a learned doublet of the popular heredero “heir”, which continues the same Latin adjective. García de Diego also…
herir
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…
hermano
It is inherited from Latin germānus (“of the same parents; genuine”), short for frāter germānus (“brother by the same father and mother”); the Old Spanish forms were iermano and ermano. In Latin the…
hermoso
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…
héroe
It is borrowed from Latin hērōs (“demigod, hero”), from Ancient Greek ἥρως (hḗrōs, “demigod; epic war leader”). The feminine heroína is from ἡρωΐνη (hērōḯnē). Beekes rejects the old reconstruction…
heroína
1. The word for the heroine is borrowed from Latin hērōīna (“demigoddess, heroine”), from Ancient Greek ἡρωΐνη (hērōḯnē), the feminine of ἥρως (hḗrōs, “hero”). The DLE derives the feminine directly…
heroísmo
It is formed from Spanish héroe + -ismo. The BDELC lists it under the base noun and dates it 1765–1783. The noun is from Latin hērōs, from Ancient Greek ἥρως (hḗrōs, “demigod; epic warrior chief”)…
hielo
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…
hierba
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…
hierro
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…