Spanish words from Latin
1454 Spanish words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 5).
cocina
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin cocina, from Late Latin coquīna, derived from Latin coquō (“to cook”). The OLD analyses coquina as a derivative of coquus (“a cook”). This Vulgar Latin form is the…
cocinar
It is inherited from Late Latin cocīnō (“to cook”), the late form of coquīnō (“to cook, act as a cook”). The DLE, the DCECH and the Breve diccionario give the classical verb as the source, and…
código
It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin cōdex (“book”), applied above all to the Code of Justinian and later to other bodies of law. Corominas finds the ending in -o hard to explain from either…
codo
It is inherited from Old Spanish cobdo, inherited from Latin cubitum (“elbow; cubit”). The DLE, Corominas and García de Diego cite the masculine variant cubitus. The Old Spanish form lost its ⟨b⟩…
coger
It is inherited from Latin colligō (“to gather together, collect”). The Latin verb is formed from con- (“together”) and legō (“to gather, pick; to read”). The same word is Portuguese colher…
cojón
It is inherited from Late Latin cōleō (“testicle”), recorded in Latin glosses, a derivative of Latin cōleus (“testicles, scrotum”). The same word is Portuguese colhão, Galician collón, Catalan…
col
It is inherited from Latin caulis (“stalk, stem; cabbage”). The Latin word was masculine; it became feminine in Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan and in some Sardinian dialects, a gender already…
cola
1. The word for the tail is inherited from Vulgar Latin coda, a variant of Latin cauda (“tail”). The ⟨l⟩ of the Spanish form has no sure explanation, but it is very old: the form with ⟨l⟩ is the…
colar
It is inherited from Latin cōlāre (“to strain, filter”), derived from cōlum (“strainer, colander”). The Latin noun is a rustic technical word without a clear etymology. The same verb is Portuguese…
colega
It is borrowed from Latin collēga (“colleague, partner in office”), a learned word. The Latin noun is formed from con- (“with, together”) and lēgō (“to appoint as deputy”), with the agent suffix -a…
color
It is inherited from Old Spanish color, inherited from Latin color (“colour”). The same Latin word is Portuguese cor (older coor), Galician cor, Asturian color, Catalan color, Occitan color, French…
combatir
It is inherited from Late Latin combattuere (“to fight with, fight”), in the popular form *combattere, a compound of com- (“with, together”) and battuō (“to beat”) (see batir). Corominas treats it…
comentar
It is borrowed from Latin commentor (“to think over, study; to comment on”). The DLE gives the Latin verb in its rarer active form. The Latin verb is a frequentative of comminīscor (“to devise…
comenzar
It is inherited from Old Spanish començar, inherited from Vulgar Latin *cominitiare. The Vulgar Latin verb is formed from com- and initiō (“to initiate”), which Christian authors already used for…
comer
It is inherited from Old Spanish comer, inherited from Vulgar Latin *comēre, a remodelled form of Latin comedō (“to eat up, consume”). Corominas finds it unlikely that the classical infinitive gave…
cometer
It is inherited from Old Spanish cometer, inherited from Latin committere (“to bring together; to entrust; to set fighting, begin a fight”). That verb is formed from Latin con- + mittō (“to send…
comino
It is inherited from Latin cumīnum (“cumin”), which is from Ancient Greek κύμινον (kúminon). A spelling cominum occurs in a Latin charter of 1288. The same Latin word is Portuguese cominho, Galician…
comisario
It is borrowed from Medieval Latin commissārius (“a royal commissioner; executor of a will”), a derivative of Latin commissus (“entrusted”), the past participle of committō (“to entrust”). Corominas…
comisión
It is borrowed from Latin commissiō, from committō (“to bring together; to entrust, charge”). The verb is formed from con- and mittō (“to send”), and is also the source of cometer. In Classical…
como
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin quomo, a contraction of Latin quōmodo (“in what way?; in the way that”). The contracted form is found from the 2nd or 3rd century AD, according to Pirson, and…
cómodo
It is borrowed from Latin commodus (“having due measure; fit, suitable, convenient”). Vox dates the borrowing to the 16th century. The Latin adjective is formed from com- (“with”) and modus…
competencia
It is borrowed from Latin competentia (“correspondence, agreement; what belongs to someone”), a learned word. The DLE gives it two headwords, both from this Latin noun: one for rivalry, which it…
completo
It is borrowed from Latin complētus (“filled up, complete”), the past participle of compleō (“to fill up, complete”), a learned word that Corominas dates to about 1720. The Diccionario de…
comportar
It is borrowed from Latin comportō (“to carry together, bring together”), formed from Latin con- + portō (“to carry”). The pronominal use “to behave”, recorded from 1817, is modelled on French se…
comprar
It is inherited from Old Spanish comprar, inherited from Vulgar Latin *comperāre, from Latin comparō (“to prepare, provide; to acquire”). The Latin verb is formed from com- and parō (“to prepare…
comprender
It is inherited from Latin comprehendō (“to seize; to take in; to grasp mentally”), in its contracted form comprendō. The DLE derives it from the older Spanish form comprehender. Corominas treats it…
común
It continues inherited from Latin commūnis (“common, shared”). Corominas dates the noun to Berceo and the adjective only to the 14th century, and takes this late appearance, and the almost exclusive…
con
It is inherited from Latin cum (“with”), with the same form in Old Spanish con. The Latin final /m/ became /n/, as in quien from quem: Bénaben explains this by the loss of the contrast between…
concebir
It is inherited from Latin concipiō (“to take in, absorb; to conceive”); Old Spanish concebir has the same form. That verb was formed from Latin con- + capiō (“to take”). De Vaan traces the simple…
conceder
It is borrowed from Latin concēdō (“to withdraw; to yield; to grant”). Vox dates the borrowing to the 14th century. The Latin verb is formed from con- and cēdō (“to go, withdraw, yield”). The same…
conciencia
It is borrowed from Latin cōnscientia (“knowledge, consciousness”), a learned word like the rest of the family of ciencia. The DLE and Wikcionario add that the Latin noun is a calque of Ancient…
concluir
It is borrowed from Latin conclūdō (“to shut up, enclose; to end”), a learned word recorded from the first half of the 13th century. The Latin verb is formed con- + claudō (“to close”). It meant “to…
concreto
It is borrowed from Latin concrētus (“thick, condensed, compact”), the past participle of concrēscō (“to grow together; to thicken, harden”). Corominas treats it under crecer, since the Latin verb…
condado
It is inherited from Latin comitātus (“retinue, escort”). Corominas and the Breve diccionario treat it as a derivative of conde. In Medieval Latin the noun came to mean the office of a count and the…
conde
It is inherited from Old Spanish conde, inherited from Latin comes (“companion”). In the Late Empire the Latin word was applied to the nobles who lived in the imperial palace and went with the ruler…
condición
It is borrowed from Latin condiciō (“stipulation; state, manner of being”), a learned word. The Latin noun is formed from condīcō (“to agree upon, to fix”) with -iō, from con- (“with”) and dīcō (“to…
conducir
It is borrowed from Latin condūcō (“to lead or bring together”), a learned word. The Latin verb is made of con- (“together”) and dūcō (“to lead”). The only popular descendant of the Latin verb in…
conejo
It is inherited from Old Spanish conejo, inherited from Latin cuniculus (“rabbit; burrow, underground passage”). Martial's verse shows a long vowel in the second syllable of the Latin word, and the…
confesar
It is borrowed from Late Latin confesso (“to confess”), a verb made from confessus (“having admitted”), the past participle of confiteor (“to admit, acknowledge”). Corominas calls the Low Latin verb…
confiar
The Academy and Wiktionary take it as inherited from Vulgar Latin *confidāre, a form of cōnfīdō (“to trust”) remade like fiar, from *fidāre. The REW gives the same base for Italian confidare, French…
confirmar
It is borrowed from Latin cōnfirmō (“to strengthen; to establish, confirm”), a learned word. The Latin verb is formed from con- and firmō (“to make firm”), from firmus (“firm, stable”). Corominas…
confundir
It is inherited from Old Spanish cofonder, inherited from Latin cōnfundō (“to pour together, mix; to confuse”). Corominas treats the Cid's form, confonder in Berceo and the modern form, first found…
confuso
It is borrowed from Latin cōnfūsus (“mixed, confused”), the past participle of cōnfundō (“to pour together, mix, confuse”). Corominas treats it under fundir, with confundir, which he dates to about…
conocer
It is inherited from Late Latin conōscō (“to get to know”), the form that Latin cognōscō took under the influence of the simple verb nōscō. The form without ⟨g⟩ is already found in texts of the…
consejo
It is inherited from Old Spanish consejo, inherited from Latin cōnsilium (“deliberation, consultation; advisory assembly; advice”). The Latin word has the same origin as cónsul and cōnsulō (“to…
conservar
It is borrowed from Latin cōnservō (“to keep safe, preserve”), first recorded in the first half of the 13th century. Wiktionary calls it a learned borrowing, and Nascentes says the same of the…
considerar
It is borrowed from Latin cōnsīderō (“to examine attentively”), a learned word. The same Latin verb gave popular forms elsewhere: Catalan consirar, Aragonese cosirar, Old Galician-Portuguese…
construir
It is borrowed from Latin cōnstruō (“to heap up; to build”), formed from con- (“together”) and struō (“to pile up, arrange, build”). The Latin verb meant first “to pile up” and then “to build”. The…
contacto
It is borrowed from Latin contāctus (“touch, contact; contagion”), a noun from contingō (“to touch, reach”), which was formed from con- and tangō (“to touch”). Vox notes that Spanish took the…
contar
It is inherited from Latin computō (“to calculate, reckon”), formed on putō (“to reckon”) with the prefix com-. The sense “to tell, narrate”, properly “to recount”, is as old in Spanish as “to…
contemplar
It is borrowed from Latin contemplō (“to look at attentively, observe”), or its deponent form contemplor, a learned word. The Latin verb is formed con- + templum + -ō. Its base first meant the area…
contener
It is inherited from Latin contineō (“to hold together; to contain”), which Corominas records first in the Fuero Juzgo of 1240. Vox calls it a popular word, from the sense “to keep together”, which…
contento
It is borrowed from Latin contentus (“contained; content, satisfied”), originally the past participle of contineō (“to hold together, contain”), which is formed from teneō (“to hold”). Corominas…
continuar
It is borrowed from Latin continuō (“to join together; to go on with”), a learned word. That verb is from Latin continuus (“adjacent, uninterrupted”), from contineō (“to hold together”), which is…
continuo
It is borrowed from Latin continuus (“adjoining, consecutive, uninterrupted”), from contineō (“to hold together; to contain”). That verb is formed from con- (“together”) and teneō (“to hold”), which…
contra
It is inherited from Latin contrā (“opposite, against”). As a preposition the word was mostly unstressed, so its vowel was treated as unstressed; but Latin's adverbial use survived in part, and with…
contrario
It is borrowed from Latin contrārius (“opposite; hostile”). The variant contrallo goes back to a dissimilated form of the Latin word. The Latin word gave French contraire, Old Occitan contrari and…
contrato
It is borrowed from Latin contractus (“a drawing together; the undertaking of a transaction”), a noun formed from contrahō (“to draw together; to conclude a bargain”) with the suffix -tus. The Latin…
convencer
It is borrowed from Latin convincō (“to overcome; to prove wrong, convict”). Corominas lists it among the derivatives of vencer, the inherited outcome of vincō (“to conquer”), and dates it from Juan…
convenir
It is inherited from Latin conveniō (“to come together, meet; to agree; to be fitting”). The Latin verb is formed con- (“together”) and veniō (“to come”), the source of venir; Wiktionary gives it as…