Spanish words from Latin
1854 Spanish words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 24).
procónsul
It is borrowed from Latin prōcōnsul (“proconsul”). The BDELC and the DCECH give it among the derivatives of cónsul, without a date. Latin made the noun out of the phrase prō (“for, in place of”)…
procurador
It is borrowed from Latin prōcūrātor (“manager, agent”). Corominas lists it among the derivatives of the learned verb procurar, which he takes from Latin, and dates it only from Nebrija. The HSMS…
prodigio
It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin prōdigium (“portent, prodigy, miracle”). The Latin word meant an unnatural event that announces a disaster. Its formation is uncertain: the first part…
producir
It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin prōdūcō (“to lead forward, bring forth; to beget”). The Latin verb is formed with prō- (“forward”) on dūcō (“to lead”). Corominas lists it among the…
profesor
It is borrowed from Latin professor (“one who professes an art or science; teacher”). The Latin agent noun is formed on professus, the past participle of profiteor (“to declare publicly; to profess…
profundo
It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin profundus (“deep”), and the learned doublet of the inherited hondo, which comes from the same Latin adjective or from its base. The Latin word is formed…
profuso
It is borrowed from Latin profūsus (“poured out; lavish”), the past participle of profundō (“to pour out; squander”). The Latin verb is formed from prō- (“forward, forth”) and fundō (“to pour”). De…
programa
It is borrowed from Late Latin programma (“proclamation, edict”), from Ancient Greek πρόγραμμα (prógramma, “public notice”). The Greek noun is formed on προγράφω (prográphō, “to announce in…
prohibición
It is borrowed from Latin prohibitiō (“prevention, prohibition”), a learned word. The Latin noun is formed from prohibeō (“to keep away, prevent, forbid”) with -tiō, and the verb from habeō (“to…
prohibir
It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin prohibeō (“to keep away; to hinder, forbid”). The Latin source is itself formed from Latin prō- (“forward, away”) + habeō (“to have, hold”), properly “to…
promesa
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *prōmissa (“promise”), recorded in Medieval Latin as promissa, from the plural of prōmissum (“a promise”). That noun was the neuter past participle of prōmittō (“to…
prometer
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…
promiscuo
It is borrowed from Latin prōmiscuus (“mixed, shared in common”). The Latin adjective is formed from prō-, misceō (“to mix”) and the suffix -uus. De Vaan reconstructs the verb as Proto-Indo-European…
promontorio
It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin prōmontōrium (“headland, promontory”), first recorded in 1490. Corominas treats it among the derivatives of monte, and Vox counts it in the same…
pronombre
It is borrowed from Latin prōnōmen (“pronoun”), with its second part made to match nombre. The Latin word is formed of prō (“instead of”) and nōmen (“name; noun”), and was coined as a calque of…
pronto
It is borrowed from Latin promptus (“visible; ready, at hand; resolute”), the past participle of prōmō (“to bring out; to reveal”), which is formed from prō- and emō (“to take”). It is a learned…
pronunciación
It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin prōnūntiātiō (“proclamation; delivery”). Corominas lists it among the words of the family of nuncio, beside pronunciar. DICCA-XV treats it as a…
pronunciar
It is borrowed from Latin prōnūntiō (“to proclaim, announce; to utter”), recorded from 1220–1250. French prononcer is likewise borrowed from Latin, in the early 12th century. This verb is formed…
propiedad
It is inherited from Old Spanish propriedad, borrowed from Latin proprietās (“peculiar quality; ownership”), from proprius (“one's own”) with the suffix -tās. Corominas treats it in his article on…
propietario
It is borrowed from Latin proprietārius (“owner”), a post-classical legal word formed from proprietās (“ownership”) with the suffix -ārius. The BDELC and the DCECH list it under propio, a learned…
propincuidad
It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin propinquitās (“nearness; kinship”). Corominas treats it with propincuo in the family of próximo. The Latin noun is formed of propinquus (“near…
propio
It is borrowed from Latin prōprius (“one's own, particular”). The older form was proprio, from which the DLE derives the word; the second ⟨r⟩ was lost by dissimilation. The same loss occurred to…
proponer
It is borrowed from Latin prōpōnō (“to set forth, put forward, propose”), adapted to the conjugation of poner. Corominas dates it from the beginning of the 14th century, and Vox calls it a…
proporcional
It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin prōportiōnālis (“of proportion”). Wiktionary analyses it as proporción with the suffix -al. Corominas lists it among the words of the family of porción…
próspero
It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin prosperus (“favourable, successful, fortunate”). The Latin adjective is found from Naevius on. De Vaan reconstructs *pro-sparo- and derives it either from…
proteger
It is borrowed from Latin prōtegō (“to cover in front; to protect”). The Latin verb is formed from prō- (“in front”) and tegō (“to cover”). Corominas treats it under techo, from tēctum (“roof”), a…
protocolo
It is borrowed from Medieval Latin protocollum (“first sheet of a document; notary's register”), which the DLE calls Late Latin. The Latin word is from Ancient Greek πρωτόκολλον (prōtókollon), a…
prototipo
It is borrowed from French prototype, according to the DLE and Wiktionary, and the French word is from Late Latin prōtotypos (“elementary or primitive form”). The DHLF dates the French word 1552 and…
proverbial
It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin prōverbiālis (“proverbial”). By surface analysis it is proverbio with the suffix -al, and Corominas lists it among the derivatives of that noun in the…
providente
It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin prōvidēns (“foreseeing, provident”). Corominas lists it, with providencia and próvido, among the words of the family of ver. The Latin word is the…
provocación
It is borrowed from Latin prōvocātiō (“a challenge; an appeal”). The Latin noun is formed from prōvocō (“to call forth, challenge”), from prō- (“forth”) and vocō (“to call”). De Vaan traces the…
provocar
It is borrowed from Latin prōvocō (“to call forth; to challenge”), a learned word, which Corominas glosses as calling someone to come out, and so to excite or provoke. Corominas and the BDELC date…
provocativo
It is borrowed from Late Latin prōvocātīvus (“calling forth, eliciting”). Corominas lists it among the learned derivatives of provocar, which goes back to Latin prōvocō (“to call out; to challenge…
próximo
It is borrowed from Latin proximus (“nearest, next”), a learned word. The same Latin word gave the popular prójimo “neighbour, fellow man”, and Corominas treats the two as variants of one word…
prudente
It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin prūdēns (“foreseeing, skilled, prudent”). The Latin adjective is a contraction of prōvidēns (“foreseeing”), the present participle of prōvideō (“to…
púa
Its origin is uncertain. The word is shared by the Ibero-Romance languages and Occitan, and reaches dialects of central France and much of Italy: Portuguese pua, Galician puga, Catalan pua and…
pubertad
It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin pūbertās (“puberty, virility”). The Latin noun is formed from pūbēs (“grown-up; pubic hair”) with the suffix -tās. The same Latin word is Portuguese…
publicano
It is borrowed from Latin pūblicānus (“tax farmer”), a learned word. The DCECH and the BDELC list it under público, with which it shares its Latin root. The Latin word is an adjective “of the public…
público
It is borrowed from Latin pūblicus (“official, public”), a learned word. The oldest Spanish records have forms such as pupligo and póbligo; the modern form occurs several times in Juan Ruiz and is…
pueblo
It is inherited from Latin populus (“people, body of citizens”). Old Spanish texts also write it poblo, publo, poulo and puebro, and Salamanca still has this form. The learned form of the same Latin…
puente
It is inherited from Old Spanish puente, inherited from Latin pōns (“bridge”). The Latin noun was masculine, and so is the word in most Romance languages; it became feminine only in Spanish…
puerta
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…
puerto
It is inherited from Old Spanish puerto, inherited from Latin portus (“harbour entrance, harbour”). The same word is Portuguese porto, Galician porto, Asturian puertu, Catalan port, Occitan port…
pues
It is inherited from Latin post (“after; behind”). Wiktionary gives a reduced form Vulgar Latin *pos as the intermediate stage. In late Latin the word also took the value of postquam (“after…
pulpa
It is inherited from Latin pulpa (“flesh; pulp of fruit”), a semi-learned word. The other Romance languages changed the short Latin /u/ to /o/, as in Portuguese polpa, Galician polpa, Catalan polpa…
púlpito
It is borrowed from Latin pulpitum (“wooden platform, stage”), a learned word. In Berceo it appears once in a Frenchified form, Old Spanish púlpite. The Latin noun named a wooden platform for plays…
pulso
It is inherited from Old Spanish pulso, borrowed from Latin pulsus (“a push, blow; beat”), derived from pellō (“to push, drive”). García de Diego calls it a learned word. Latin medical writers used…
pulverizar
It is borrowed from Late Latin pulverizō (“to reduce to dust”), a learned word. The DLE calls the source Medieval Latin, the DTME and Wiktionary Late Latin; the Latin verb is recorded in Vegetius'…
pungente
It is borrowed from Latin pungēns (“pricking, stinging”), the present participle of pungō (“to prick, pierce”). Corominas lists it among the learned derivatives of the Latin verb, beside pungir…
punitivo
It is a learned word from Latin pūnītum, the supine of pūniō (“to punish”), with the suffix -ivo. Corominas derives it from the rare Old Spanish verb punir “to punish” (15th century), from the same…
puño
It is inherited from Latin pugnus (“fist”). Old Spanish wrote it punno, with ⟨nn⟩ for the palatal nasal /ɲ/ that Latin /ɡn/ became. The DCECH notes that it has been in general use at every period…
punta
It is inherited from Old Spanish punta, inherited from Late Latin puncta (“a thrust, stab”). The Late Latin noun is the feminine of Latin pūnctus (“pricked”), the past participle of pungō (“to…
punto
It is inherited from Old Spanish punto, inherited from Latin pūnctum (“a prick, a puncture; a point”). The Latin noun is the neuter of pūnctus, past participle of pungō (“to prick, pierce”), so that…
purgar
It is inherited from Old Spanish purgar, borrowed from Latin pūrgō (“to clean, purify”), a learned word recorded from Berceo on. The popular outcome of the Latin verb is porgar “to sift”, Aragonese…
purgativo
It is borrowed from Late Latin pūrgātīvus (“purgative”), a learned word. The Latin adjective was formed from pūrgō (“to clean, purge”) with the suffix -īvus, and is recorded only in post-classical…
puridad
It is inherited from Old Spanish poridad, the medieval form, inherited from Latin pūritās (“purity”). The Old Spanish form was the usual one in the Middle Ages, and the modern spelling with ⟨u⟩…
purificar
It is borrowed from Latin pūrificō (“to cleanse, purify”), a learned word. Vox dates the borrowing to the 15th century. The Latin verb is a compound of pūrus (“pure”) and -ficō (“-making”), from…
puro
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…
puta
Its origin is uncertain. Corominas considers it most probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *pūtta (“girl”), the feminine of *pūttus, a variant of Latin putus (“boy”). Wiktionary, Moliner and the DLE…
putrefacción
It is borrowed from Late Latin pūtrefactiō (“a rotting”), a learned word. The Latin noun, recorded in Augustine, was formed from putrefaciō (“to make rotten”) with -tiō; the verb combines puter…