Spanish words from Latin
1854 Spanish words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 20).
ocho
It is inherited from Old Spanish ocho, inherited from Latin octō (“eight”). Wiktionary reconstructs an earlier form *oito between the Latin and the Old Spanish word. The same Latin word is…
ocioso
It is borrowed from Latin ōtiōsus (“at leisure, unoccupied, idle”), a learned word. The BDELC dates it, with ociosidad, to 1438, five years after the noun ocio (1433), which is from ōtium (“leisure…
octubre
It is inherited from Latin Octōber (“October”), in a variant with /u/: Vulgar Latin Octuber is recorded in 119 AD. Wiktionary calls the modern form semi-learned, based on the inherited Old Spanish…
ocular
It is a learned word, borrowed from Late Latin oculāris (“of the eyes”). The Latin adjective is formed from oculus (“eye”) with the suffix -āris. Gómez de Silva traces the Latin noun to…
ocupar
It is borrowed from Latin occupo (“to seize, take possession of”), a learned word. The Latin verb is formed from ob- and the root of capio (“to take”). Bénaben notes that the Latin passive meant “to…
oda
It is borrowed from Late Latin oda (“ode”), which is from Ancient Greek ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “song”). The DLE calls the Latin form Late Latin and Wiktionary Medieval Latin; the BDELC adds the Latin variant…
odio
It is borrowed from Latin odium (“hatred; hateful conduct”), a learned word. The Latin noun belongs with the defective verb ōdī (“I hate”); de Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *odio- (“hatred”) and…
oficial
It is borrowed from Late Latin officiālis (“relating to duty; an attendant, an official”). The Latin adjective is formed on officium (“service, duty, office”) with the suffix -ālis. Corominas takes…
oficio
It is borrowed from Latin officium (“service, function”), a learned word. The Latin noun is a contraction of opificium, derived from opifex (“craftsman”), a compound of opus (“work”) and faciō (“to…
oír
It is inherited from Old Spanish oir, inherited from Latin audiō (“to hear”). The same Latin verb is Portuguese ouvir, Galician ouvir, Catalan oir, French ouïr, Italian udire and Romanian auzi…
ojo
It is inherited from Latin oculus (“eye”), in the Vulgar Latin form oclus with the unstressed vowel lost, and Old Spanish already wrote ojo. It is a doublet of the learned óculo. The same Latin word…
oler
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…
olor
It is inherited from Old Spanish olor, inherited from Vulgar Latin olor (“smell”), an altered form of classical Latin odor (“smell, odour”) made under the influence of the verb oleō (“to smell”)…
olvidar
It is inherited from Old Spanish olbidar, inherited from Vulgar Latin *oblītāre, a verb formed on oblītus, the past participle of classical oblīvīscor (“to forget”). The Vulgar Latin verb replaced…
omnipotente
It is borrowed from Latin omnipotēns (“almighty”), a learned word that kept the Latin form. The Latin adjective is a compound of omnis (“all”) and potēns (“powerful”). The second part is the present…
onda
It is inherited from Old Spanish onda, inherited from Latin unda (“wave, billow; running water”). The same Latin word is Portuguese onda, Galician onda, Asturian onda, Catalan ona, Occitan onda…
ónix
It is borrowed from Latin onyx, a learned word that keeps the Latin nominative; the Latin is from Ancient Greek ὄνυξ (ónux, “nail, claw”). The Greek word also named the gem, and Corominas explains…
onomatopeya
It is borrowed from Late Latin onomatopoeia, which is from Ancient Greek ὀνοματοποιία (onomatopoiía, “the coining of a word”). The Greek noun is formed from ὀνοματοποιός (onomatopoiós, “coiner of…
onza
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…
opaco
It is borrowed from Latin opācus (“shady, covered in shade; dark”). Corominas describes it as a Latinism of the culterano poets, an ornamental synonym of sombrío; its new sense “not transparent”…
operación
It is borrowed from Latin operātiō (“work, working; operation”), a learned word. The Latin noun is formed from operor (“to be at work”) with the suffix -tiō. The verb is derived from opus (“work”)…
opinar
It is borrowed from Latin opīnor (“to think, believe, suppose”), a deponent verb. Early Latin also had an active opīnō, in Plautus and Ennius, and the Academy's 1884 edition gives that active…
opinión
It is borrowed from Latin opīniō (“opinion, belief; reputation”). The Latin noun is formed from opīnor (“to think, suppose, conjecture”) with the suffix -iō. De Vaan rejects or doubts the proposed…
oportuno
It is borrowed from Latin opportūnus (“well placed; convenient, opportune”), a learned word that Corominas first records in Juan de Mena, about 1440. He explains the Latin adjective as properly a…
oración
It is borrowed from Latin ōrātiō (“speech, language; in Late Latin, prayer”), a learned word. The DCECH and the BDELC treat it as a derivative of orar, itself taken from ōrō (“to speak; to plead…
orar
It is borrowed from Latin ōrāre (“to speak, plead; to beg, pray”). Corominas notes that although learned, it has been in common use in every period. Wiktionary calls it an early borrowing. Lanchetas…
orden
It is inherited from Latin ordo (“row, rank, order”), by a semi-learned development. Corominas notes that a fully popular development would have given *orne, and that the learned influence is easily…
ordenar
It continues inherited from Latin ōrdinō (“to set in order, arrange”), a derivative of ōrdō (“row, rank, order”). Corominas calls it a semi-learned continuation of the Latin verb, like orden itself…
ordinario
It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin ōrdinārius (“arranged in order; regular, usual”). The adjective is formed from Latin ōrdō (“row, order”) + -ārius. Corominas lists it among the learned…
oreja
It is inherited from Old Spanish oreja, inherited from Latin auricula (“ear”). The Latin word is the diminutive of auris (“ear”), and the poets of the Silver Age already used the diminutive in place…
origen
It is borrowed from Latin orīgō (“beginning, source”), through the stem of its oblique cases. Corominas calls it a learned word, but one in wide use. The Latin noun is formed from orior (“to rise…
originar
It is formed from Spanish origen + -ar. The DCECH counts it, with original and originario, among the learned derivatives of origen, which is from Latin orīgō (“origin”). The Latin noun is formed…
oro
It is inherited from Old Spanish oro, inherited from Latin aurum (“gold”). The Latin diphthong /au/ became /o/, as in toro from Latin taurus. The same word is Portuguese ouro, Galician ouro, Catalan…
oscuro
It continues inherited from Old Spanish escuro, inherited from Latin obscūrus (“dark, gloomy”), with its form brought back towards the Latin in the Golden Age. The medieval form ⟨escuro⟩ runs from…
oso
It is inherited from Old Spanish osso, inherited from Latin ursus (“bear”). Wiktionary sets up an intermediate Vulgar Latin form *ussus, with the Latin cluster /rs/ assimilated to /ss/; Corominas…
otro
It is inherited from Old Spanish altro (the form of the Glosas Emilianenses; the Cid already has the modern form), inherited from Latin alter (“the other of two”). Already in Vulgar Latin it…
pabellón
It is borrowed from Old French paveillon (“army tent”), according to Corominas, the DLE and Wiktionary. Corominas takes the Spanish /ʎ/ and the old spelling with ⟨v⟩ as proof of a borrowing from Old…
paciente
It is borrowed from Latin patiens (“enduring, patient”), the present participle of patior (“to suffer, endure”), a learned word. The DCECH lists it among the learned words in its article on padecer…
pacificar
It is borrowed from Latin pacifico (“to make peace; to pacify”). Corominas counts it among the learned words of the family of paz; the popular outcome of Vulgar Latin *adpacificare is apaciguar…
padre
It is inherited from Latin pater (“father”), from the accusative ⟨patrem⟩; Old Spanish padre has the same form from the earliest texts. The word is general in all periods and in all the Romance…
pagar
It is inherited from Latin pācō (“to pacify, subdue”), a verb formed on pāx (“peace”). Old Spanish pagar already has this form in the Cantar de mio Cid. In classical Latin the verb meant only “to…
página
It is borrowed from Latin pāgina (“page, column of writing”), a learned word first recorded in Alfonso de Palencia in 1490. The Latin noun began as a farmers' word: Pliny uses it for a trellis, and…
pájaro
It is inherited from Old Spanish pássaro, inherited from Vulgar Latin passar (“bird”), the popular form of Latin passer (“sparrow”) that the Appendix Probi corrects. Wiktionary and Houaiss…
palabra
It is inherited from Old Spanish parabla, inherited from Latin parabola (“comparison, simile; parable”), which was from Ancient Greek παραβολή (parabolḗ, “comparison, parable”), from παραβάλλω…
palacio
It is inherited from Old Spanish palacio, borrowed from Latin palātium (“the Palatine Hill; palace”), originally the name of the Palatine Hill in Rome, then of the Caesars' palace on it, and then of…
palo
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
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…
paño
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…
panza
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…
papal
It is borrowed from Medieval Latin papālis. The DCECH, the BDELC and DICCA-XV list it among the derivatives of papa “pope”. The Latin adjective is formed from Late Latin papa (“pope”) with the…
par
It is inherited from Old Spanish par, inherited from Latin pār (“equal, alike; a pair”). In Latin the adjective was already used as a noun for a pair of persons or things. The same word is…
parábola
It is borrowed from Late Latin parabola (“comparison; parable”), which is from Ancient Greek παραβολή (parabolḗ, “juxtaposition, comparison”). The Greek noun comes from παραβάλλω (parabállō, “to set…
parada
It is formed from Spanish parar + -ada, the feminine past participle of the verb used as a noun. The verb is from Latin parō (“to prepare, arrange”); in Spanish the sense “to dispose” became “to put…
paraíso
It is inherited from Old Spanish parayso, inherited from Late Latin paradīsus (“park; paradise”), a semi-learned descendant of the Latin word. The Latin noun is from Ancient Greek παράδεισος…
parar
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…
parecer
It is inherited from Old Spanish parescer, inherited from Vulgar Latin *pārēscere (“to begin to appear”), an inchoative derivative of pāreō (“to appear; to obey”). Corominas thinks the verb was…
parejo
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *pariculus (“alike, similar”), a diminutive of pār (“equal”). The Late Latin word occurs once, in a text connected with the Salic law. Spanish par in the sense…
parental
It is borrowed from Latin parentālis (“of or belonging to parents”). The Latin adjective is formed from parēns (“parent”) with the suffix -ālis. It was used especially of the Parentalia, the Roman…
pariente
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…
parir
It is inherited from Old Spanish parir, inherited from Latin pariō (“to give birth; to produce, procure”). Corominas notes that the verb has been in general use at all periods. It survives only in…