Spanish words from Latin
1854 Spanish words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 17).
mama
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…
mañana
It is inherited from Old Spanish mannana, inherited from Vulgar Latin *maneana (“early”), short for a Vulgar Latin phrase with hora (“hour”) meaning “at an early hour”. The adjective was formed on…
mancha
It is inherited from Old Spanish mancha, inherited from Vulgar Latin *mancla, from Latin macula (“stain, spot”). This is the DCECH's MANCHA I. At an early date the nasal of the initial /m/ spread to…
manco
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…
mandar
It is inherited from Old Spanish mandar, inherited from Latin mandāre (“to hand over, entrust”). Corominas glosses the Latin verb as “to entrust, give a mission to; to commit (something) to…
manera
It is inherited from Old Spanish manera, inherited from Vulgar Latin manuaria, the feminine of Latin manuārius (“manageable”). The Latin adjective came to mean “skilful, handy”; its feminine took…
manga
1. The word for the sleeve is inherited from Latin manica (“long sleeve of a tunic”), a derivative of manus (“hand”). Latin formed it as an adjective in -icus made into a feminine noun. The same…
mango
1. The word for the handle is inherited from Old Spanish mango, inherited from Vulgar Latin *manĭcus, a derivative of manus (“hand”). Corominas explains the Vulgar Latin word as a Romance derivative…
manifestación
It is borrowed from Late Latin manifestātiō (“a manifesting, revelation”), a post-classical noun. Corominas lists it under mano with the other learned words of the family, beside the verb…
mano
It is inherited from Latin manus (“hand”), and Old Spanish mano has the same form from the first records. The word is general in every period and common to all the Romance languages: Portuguese mão…
mantener
It is inherited from Late Latin manū tenēre (“to hold in the hand; to support”). Corominas calls it a compound common to all the western Romance languages. The Latin phrase joins manū (“with the…
manufactura
It is borrowed from Medieval Latin manufactura, a compound of manū (“by hand”), the ablative of manus (“hand”), and factūra (“a making”), from faciō (“to make, do”). Corominas lists it among the…
máquina
It is borrowed from Latin machina (“machine, contrivance; scaffolding; stratagem”), which is from Ancient Greek μαχανά (mākhanā́), the Doric form of Attic μηχανή (mēkhanḗ, “ingenious device…
mar
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…
maravilla
It is inherited from Old Spanish maravilla, inherited from Late Latin mīrābilia (“wonders, marvels”), by a semi-learned route. The Late Latin noun, properly “wonderful things”, is the neuter plural…
marido
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”…
marina
It is inherited from Latin marīna, the feminine of the Latin adjective “of the sea” used as a noun. For the Academy it is from Spanish marino instead, but Corominas dates the noun to about 1250 and…
marinero
It is formed from Spanish marino + -ero. Wiktionary takes the base to be the noun marina instead, and the Academy's dictionary of 1884 gave the same etymology. Corominas lists it among the…
marra
1. The word for a gap is from Spanish marrar (“to miss, fail”), a noun formed from the verb. The Academy has given this etymology since its dictionary of 1884. The DLE derives the verb from the…
marzo
It is inherited from Old Spanish março, inherited from Latin Mārtius (“(month) of Mars”), short for Mārtius mēnsis. The adjective comes from the name of the god Mārs with the suffix -ius, because…
más
It is inherited from Latin magis (“more”), through Old Spanish maes, later contracted to mas. The older form is found mainly in Leonese documents of 1222 and 1246, and mais in the Libro de Alexandre…
masa
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…
materia
It is borrowed from Latin māteria (“timber; material, matter”), a learned word beside the inherited madera (“wood”). Vox dates the borrowing to the 13th century and notes that it kept the more…
material
It is borrowed from Late Latin māteriālis (“made of matter”), a learned word. The Latin adjective is formed from māteria (“wood, timber; matter”) with the suffix -ālis. It is post-classical, found…
matrimonio
It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin mātrimōnium (“wedlock, marriage”). Corominas records a popular form matrimoño beside it. The same Latin word is Portuguese matrimónio, Galician matrimonio…
máxima
It is borrowed from Medieval Latin maxima (“maxim, rule”). Du Cange glosses the Medieval Latin noun as an accepted sentence or rule, and notes that the French and English call it maxime and maxim…
máximo
It is borrowed from Latin maximus (“greatest”), the superlative of magnus (“great”). The older Latin spelling was maxumus. The word is learned in Spanish, as in Italian massimo and Portuguese…
mayo
It is inherited from Old Spanish mayo, inherited from Latin Maius (“May”). Latin used the word short for Maius mensis (“the month of Maia”). The same word is Portuguese maio, Catalan maig, Occitan…
mayor
It is inherited from Latin maior (“greater”), the comparative of magnus (“great”). The Leonese variant maor appears in the Libro de Alexandre. The same word is Portuguese maior, Italian maggiore…
maza
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *mattea, which seems to be a back-formation from Latin mateola (“mallet”). The Latin word occurs only a couple of times in Cato, for a mallet to drive in a stake…
mediación
It is borrowed from Latin mediatio. Corominas lists it among the derivatives of mediar, with no date of its own. The Latin noun was formed from the Late Latin verb mediō (“to halve; to be in the…
medicamento
It is borrowed from Latin medicāmentum (“drug, remedy”). The Latin noun is formed on medicō (“to heal, treat”) with the suffix -mentum. The verb belongs with medicus (“physician”), which the DCECH…
medicina
It is borrowed from Latin medicīna (“the art of healing; remedy”). The Latin noun is the feminine of medicīnus (“of a doctor, healing”), from medicus (“doctor”). These go back to medeor (“to heal…
médico
It is borrowed from Latin medicus (“physician, doctor”), a learned word in Spanish. García de Diego calls the Castilian form a learned word, beside the inherited outcomes of the Latin noun in the…
medio
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…
medir
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…
mejor
It is inherited from Latin melior (“better”), the comparative used with bonus (“good”), continuing the Latin accusative. The same word is Portuguese melhor, Galician mellor, Catalan millor, Occitan…
melón
It is inherited from Late Latin mēlō (“melon”), a shortening of mēlopepō (“apple-shaped melon”), from Ancient Greek μηλοπέπων (mēlopépōn, “a kind of melon”). The Greek word is a compound of μῆλον…
memoria
It is borrowed from Latin memoria (“memory, remembrance”), taken over by the learned route in Old Spanish. Corominas places it among the learned words of the family of remembrar, and dates it to the…
menor
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…
menos
It is inherited from Latin minus (“less”), and Old Spanish menos has the same form in the earliest texts. The Latin adverb is the neuter of minor (“smaller, less”), which served as the comparative…
mente
It is borrowed from Latin mēns (“mind”), a learned word that took the place of the inherited miente. Wiktionary calls it a semi-learned borrowing of the Latin accusative. The Latin noun is from…
mentir
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
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
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
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…
mérito
It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin meritum (“what one deserves; merit”). The Latin noun is properly the neuter past participle of mereō (“to earn, deserve”). Corominas lists it among the…
mes
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…
mesa
It is inherited from Old Spanish mesa, inherited from Late Latin mēsa, the late form of mēnsa (“table”), with the nasal lost before /s/. The same word is Portuguese mesa, Galician mesa, Asturian…
mesta
It is inherited from Latin mixta (“mixed”), the feminine of the past participle of misceō (“to mix”). Bénaben and Segura Munguía take it as short for animalia mixta (“mixed animals”), the animals of…
meta
It is borrowed from Latin meta (“cone; turning post; goal, limit”), a learned word. Autoridades already calls it a purely Latin word. The same Latin word survives as the inherited meda “stack of…
metáfora
It is borrowed from Latin metaphora, from Ancient Greek μεταφορά (metaphorá, “transfer, transport; metaphor”). The Greek noun comes from μεταφέρω (metaphérō, “to carry over, use figuratively”)…
meter
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…
metro
1. The word for the measure is borrowed from Latin metrum (“measure, especially of verse”), which is from Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron, “measure”). The DLE gives the Greek word as its source. As the…
mezclar
It is inherited from Old Spanish mesclar, inherited from Vulgar Latin *misculare. The Vulgar Latin verb is derived from misceō (“to mix”) and lives on in all the western Romance languages. Corominas…
mi
It is inherited from Latin meus (“my, mine”), in a form reduced when it stood unstressed before a noun; the full form is mío. Gómez de Silva explains that Old Spanish mi served both genders: the…
microscopio
It is borrowed from New Latin microscopium, a scientific Latin compound of Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”) and -scopium, from Ancient Greek σκοπέω (skopéō, “to look at, examine”). The DTME…
miedo
It is inherited from Old Spanish miedo, inherited from Latin metus (“fear”). The same Latin word is Portuguese medo, Galician medo and Asturian mieu. The Latin noun is reconstructed as Proto-Italic…
miembro
It is inherited from Latin membrum (“part of the body, limb”). The Breve diccionario dates it to 1219; the corpus has it in a Castilian text of the Cortes de León dated 1208. The same Latin word is…
mientras
It is inherited from Old Spanish mientre, later mientras, a shortening of demientre, which goes back to an older domientre. That form is inherited from Late Latin dum interim (“while, meanwhile”), a…