Spanish words from Latin
1854 Spanish words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 26).
rehusar
It is inherited from Old Spanish refusar, inherited from Vulgar Latin *refūsāre (“to refuse”). Corominas derives the Vulgar Latin verb from Latin refūsus, the past participle of refundō (“to pour…
reina
It is inherited from Old Spanish reyna, inherited from Latin rēgīna (“queen”). The Latin word was first stressed on the ⟨i⟩, as Old Spanish reína still was; the stress moved to the diphthong ⟨ei⟩ by…
reino
It is borrowed from Latin regnum (“kingship; kingdom”), at first in the Latinising form regno. García de Diego explains the form with ⟨ei⟩ by the influence of rey. Nascentes suggests the same for…
reír
It is inherited from Latin rīdeō (“to laugh”), a verb used at every period of Spanish and kept in all the Romance languages. The Romance forms go back to a spoken Latin infinitive with a short vowel…
reiterar
It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin reiterō (“to repeat”). The Latin verb is formed with re- on the commoner iterō (“to repeat”), itself from the adverb iterum (“a second time”). The simple…
reja
1. The word for the ploughshare, first written relia, is inherited from Latin rēgula (“bar, rod; ruler”). In Latin the word meant any bar of metal or wood. The sense passed easily to the…
relación
It is borrowed from Latin relātiō (“a carrying back; a report; a relation”), a learned word. The Latin noun was formed on the supine stem ⟨relāt-⟩ of referō (“to carry back, report, refer”) with the…
relajación
It is borrowed from Latin relaxātiō (“a loosening; easing, remission”). DICCA-XV treats it instead as a derivative of the verb, Old Spanish relaxar (now relajar), and Corominas lists it among the…
relevar
It is borrowed from Latin relevō (“to raise; to relieve of a burden”), formed of re- and levō (“to lighten, raise”). The Latin verb is itself derived from levis (“light”), the source of leve…
reloj
It is borrowed from Old Catalan relotge (modern Catalan rellotge), which is from Latin hōrologium (“sundial, water clock”), from Ancient Greek ὡρολόγιον (hōrológion). The Greek word is a compound of…
remisión
It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin remissiō (“a sending back; a letting go; forgiveness”), first recorded in 1212. The Latin noun is formed from remittō (“to send back; to let go”) with the…
remitir
It is borrowed from Latin remittō (“to send back; to let go, slacken; to remit”), a learned word. The Latin verb is formed from re- (“back”) and mittō (“to let go, send”), the source of meter. The…
remuneración
It is borrowed from Latin remūnerātiō (“a repaying, recompense”), formed from the verb remūneror (“to repay, reward”) with the suffix -tiō. Wiktionary notes that within Spanish it can also be…
remunerar
It is borrowed from Latin remūnerō (“to repay, reward”), also used as the deponent remūneror, the form the DCECH, the BDELC and the 1884 Academy dictionary give. The Latin verb is formed from re-…
rendición
According to the DLE it is borrowed from Latin redditio (“a giving back”), which is formed from Latin reddō + -tiō. It has the ⟨nd⟩ of the verb rendir, among whose derivatives Corominas lists it…
rendir
It continues inherited from Vulgar Latin *rendere, an alteration of reddō (“to give back, deliver”) under the influence of its opposite prendō (“to take”); Old Spanish had render before rendir. This…
renegar
It continues inherited from Vulgar Latin *renegāre (“to deny”), formed with the intensive re- and negō (“to deny”). The DHLF dates the Latin verb to the 10th century and thinks it took the sense “to…
renovar
It is inherited from Latin renovō (“to restore, renew”). Corominas lists it among the popular derivatives of nuevo, not among the learned words of that family. This verb is formed from Latin re- +…
renunciar
It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin renūntiō (“to report, announce; to give up”). Nascentes calls the Portuguese word semi-learned. The Latin verb is formed from re- (“back”) and nūntiō…
reparación
It is a learned word, borrowed from Late Latin reparātiō (“restoration, renewal”). The Latin noun is formed from the past participle of reparō (“to restore”), which is made of re- and parō (“to…
repeler
It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin repellō (“to push back, drive away”). The Latin verb is formed from re- (“back”) and pellō (“to beat, push, strike”). Corominas records the form repelir in…
repetir
It is borrowed from Latin repetō (“to make for again; to claim back; to repeat”), a learned word. The Latin verb is formed from re- and petō (“to make for; to seek, ask for”), which is inherited in…
replicación
It is borrowed from Latin replicātiō (“a folding back; a plaintiff's reply”), formed from replicō (“to fold back; to reply”) with the suffix -tiō. Wiktionary notes that within Spanish it can also be…
replicar
It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin replicō (“to fold back, unroll; to reply”). The Latin verb is formed from re- and plicō (“to fold”); it first meant “to fold back” and “to unroll” a book…
reposar
It is inherited from Late Latin repausāre (“to rest, pause”), formed with re- on pausō (“to cease, stop; to rest”). Corominas treats it as a derivative common to all the western Romance languages…
reprender
It is inherited from Latin reprendō (“to hold back, catch; to censure”), the contracted form of the Latin verb. The Latin verb is formed from re- (“back”) and prehendō (“to grasp, seize”), the…
representar
It is borrowed from Latin repraesentō (“to bring before one, show, make present”). Vox dates the borrowing to the 13th century, and Corominas lists it among the learned words of the family of ser…
reprimenda
It is borrowed from Latin reprimenda (“things that must be repressed”), the neuter plural of the gerundive of reprimo (“to hold back, check”). The Academy's dictionary has given this Latin source…
reprobar
It is borrowed from Late Latin reprobāre (“to reject, condemn”), a learned word beside the inherited probar. The Latin verb, found in Late Latin and in Christian writers, is formed from re- (“back…
requerir
It is inherited from Old Spanish requerir, inherited from Latin requīrō (“to seek again, look for; to ask, demand”). Corominas treats it as one of the derivatives of querer and calls it general in…
reservar
It is borrowed from Latin reservō (“to keep back, keep for later”), a learned word. Corominas treats it among the Latin borrowings of the family of conservar, beside preservar and observar, and…
residir
It is borrowed from Latin resideō (“to remain seated; to stay, remain”). The Latin verb is formed with re- and sedeō (“to sit”). In Medieval Latin it also meant to dwell, to be resident, and to keep…
resistencia
It is borrowed from Late Latin resistentia (“resistance, opposition”). Lewis and Short record the Latin word as a late one, used by Augustine in place of repugnantia. It is formed from resistēns…
resistir
It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin resistō (“to halt; to stand firm, resist”). The Latin source is itself formed from Latin re- (“back”) + sistō (“to cause to stand, set up”). Bénaben…
resoluto
It is borrowed from Latin resolūtus (“loosened, released”), the past participle of resolvo (“to loosen, undo”). In Spanish it was long used as the irregular past participle of resolver, beside the…
resolver
It is borrowed from Latin resolvō (“to loosen, undo; to dissolve”), a learned word like the rest of the Spanish family of solvō (“to loosen”). Wiktionary notes that it was already a learned…
resonancia
It is borrowed from Latin resonantia (“echo, reverberation”). Corominas lists it among the learned derivatives of resonar, itself taken from resonō (“to resound, echo”), in his article on sonar. He…
respectar
It is borrowed from Latin respectō (“to look back at; to have regard for”). Wiktionary counts respetar as its doublet; Corominas does not separate the two: his first record of the later verb, of…
respeto
It is borrowed from Latin respectus (“a looking back; regard, consideration”). The Latin noun is formed from respiciō (“to look back”) with the suffix -tus, and respiciō from re- and speciō (“to…
respiración
It is borrowed from Latin rēspīrātiō (“breathing; a pause for breath”), a learned borrowing. The Latin noun is formed from respīrō (“to recover one's breath, breathe again”) with the suffix -tiō…
respirar
It is inherited from Old Spanish respirar, a learned word borrowed from Latin respīrō (“to breathe out; to recover one's breath”). Wiktionary calls it inherited. The Latin verb is formed re- (“back…
responder
It continues inherited from Old Spanish responder, inherited from Latin respondeō (“to answer, reply”). Wiktionary thinks it came through Late Latin respondĕre, of the third conjugation, a change of…
responsable
It is a learned word, which the DLE takes as borrowed from Medieval Latin responsabilis (“requiring an answer”), a derivative of responsō (“to answer”). The Academy's dictionary from 1884 to 2001…
restar
It is borrowed from Latin restō (“to stay behind, stand firm; to remain”). The Latin verb is formed from re- and stō (“to stand”), the source of estar. The same verb is Catalan restar, Occitan…
restaurar
It is borrowed from Latin restaurāre (“to repair, renew, restore”), a learned word. Corominas notes that it is not common in the Middle Ages and suggests that it was at first a word of the Church…
restitución
It is borrowed from Latin restitūtiō (“restoration, rebuilding; giving back”), the noun of action of restituo (“to set up again, restore”). Corominas lists it, with restituir, among the learned…
restrictivo
It is from Latin restrictus (“bound tight; limited”), the past participle of restringo (“to bind back, restrain”), with the Spanish suffix -ivo, as the DLE and Wiktionary explain. From 1884 to 2001…
resultar
It is borrowed from Latin resultō (“to spring back, rebound”). The CDH has it from 1417, in Enrique de Villena, much earlier than the BDELC's first record of 1570, in Cristóbal de las Casas…
retener
It is inherited from Old Spanish retener, inherited from Latin retineō (“to hold back, keep”). Wiktionary calls it a borrowing from Latin conjugated like tener, while Vox calls it a native word. The…
retina
It is borrowed from Medieval Latin retina, derived from Latin rete (“net”), because its fine structure was compared to a net. Bénaben explains the comparison by the blood vessels that form a network…
reuma
It is borrowed from Late Latin rheuma (“flow; catarrh”), a learned word. The Latin word is from Ancient Greek ῥεῦμα (rheûma, “flow, stream; catarrh”), a noun formed from the verb ῥέω (rhéō, “to…
revelación
It is borrowed from Latin revēlātiō (“an uncovering; revelation”), a learned word. Corominas records it, with the verb revelar, in the Corbacho of 1436 (1438 in his shorter dictionary), and DICCA-XV…
revelar
It is borrowed from Latin revēlāre (“to unveil, uncover”), a learned word first recorded in the Corbacho. The Latin verb is formed from re- (“back”) and vēlō (“to cover, veil”), from vēlum (“veil…
rever
It is inherited from Latin revideō (“to see again, revisit”), according to the DLE, Moliner and Wikcionario. Autoridades and DICCA-XV instead analyse it as formed from Spanish re- + ver. The Latin…
reverente
It is borrowed from Latin reverēns (“respectful”), the present participle of revereor (“to stand in awe of, respect”), a learned word. Corominas treats it with reverencia in the family of vergüenza…
revocar
It is borrowed from Latin revocō (“to call back”), a learned word. In Latin it is formed from re- (“back”) and vocō (“to call”), which is a derivative of Latin vōx (“voice”). De Vaan traces the noun…
revolución
It is borrowed from Late Latin revolūtiō (“a revolving, return”). The Late Latin noun is formed from Latin revolvō (“to roll back”) with the suffix -tiō. The verb is made of re- (“back, again”) and…
rey
It is inherited from Latin rēx (“king”), continuing its accusative, and Old Spanish rey has this form from the 10th century on. Corominas calls the sound development regular, referring to the…
rezar
It is inherited from Latin recitō (“to read aloud, recite”). The Latin verb is formed with re- (“again”) on citō (“to call forth”). Corominas traces the sound changes through *rezdar and *redzar to…
riba
It is inherited from Old Spanish riba, inherited from Latin rīpa (“bank of a river”). The voicing of Latin /p/ between vowels gave the /b/, and the spelling with ⟨b⟩ is constant in the old texts…