Spanish words from Latin
1589 Spanish words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 6).
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…
convento
It is borrowed from Latin conventus (“assembly, gathering”). García de Diego calls it a learned word, beside Old Spanish conviento “agreement; gathering”, found in Berceo and in Old Leonese. The…
conversación
It is borrowed from Latin conversatio (“frequent dealings, social intercourse, intimacy”). The Latin noun is formed from conversor (“to associate with, keep company with”), from con- and versor (“to…
conversar
It is borrowed from Latin conversor (“to live with, keep company with”), a learned word. The DLE gives the active form as the etymon, and the REW reconstructs it with the sense “to associate”; from…
copa
It is inherited from Old Spanish copa, inherited from Late Latin cŭppa (“cup”). Classical Latin has only cūpa (“cask, tub”), sometimes spelt with ⟨pp⟩; the sense “cup” first appears in Latin…
copia
It is borrowed from Latin cōpia (“abundance, wealth; forces; the means or opportunity of having something”), a learned word. The Latin noun is formed from cōps (“well supplied, rich”), from co- and…
corazón
It is inherited from Old Spanish coraçon, inherited from Vulgar Latin *corāceōnem, a derivative of Latin cor (“heart”). Corominas takes it to have been an augmentative with the suffixes -āceum and…
corral
Its origin is uncertain. Corominas thinks the likeliest etymon the one Menéndez Pidal suggested, inherited from Vulgar Latin *currāle, “place where chariots are kept” or “racecourse”, derived from…
correr
It is inherited from Old Spanish correr, inherited from Latin currere (“to run”). The same Latin verb is Portuguese correr, Catalan córrer, French courir, Italian correre and Romanian curge. The…
corte
1. The word for a cut is a noun from Spanish cortar, as the Academy has said since Autoridades. That verb continues Latin curtāre (“to shorten, cut off”), from curtus (“mutilated, cut short”). De…
cortina
It is inherited from Old Spanish cortina, inherited from Late Latin cortīna (“curtain”). The Late Latin noun, used by Saint Ambrose, Saint Isidore and other church writers, is a derivative of Vulgar…
corto
It is inherited from Latin curtus (“truncated, cut short; incomplete”); Old Spanish corto is first recorded in 1054. The same word is Portuguese curto, Galician curto, Asturian curtiu, Aragonese…
cosa
It is inherited from Latin causa (“cause, reason; matter, question”), and Old Spanish cosa has the same form. In Vulgar Latin the word, starting from the sense “matter, affair”, became a synonym of…
costado
It is inherited from Latin costātus (“having ribs”), used as a noun in the neuter, *costātum. The Latin adjective is formed on costa (“rib; side”). The same word is French côté, Catalan costat…
costar
It is inherited from Old Spanish costar, inherited from Latin constō (“to stand firm; to consist of; to cost”). A Latin document of 1099 already has the spelling ⟨custare⟩. The Latin verb meant “to…
costumbre
It is inherited from Old Spanish costumne, inherited from Latin cōnsuētūdō (“custom, habit”), from its accusative. The DLE starts from Vulgar Latin *cosuetumen, a form standing for the classical…
crear
It is borrowed from Latin creō (“to bring forth, produce”), a learned form beside criar, which continues the same Latin verb by the popular route. As a popular word the verb survives only in the…
crecer
It is inherited from Old Spanish cresçer, inherited from Latin crēscō (“to come into being; to grow”). The same Latin verb is Portuguese crescer, Galician crecer, Asturian crecer, Catalan créixer…
crédito
It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin crēditum (“a loan, a debt”), the neuter of crēditus, past participle of crēdō (“to believe, to entrust”). The BDELC dates it to the middle of the 16th…
creer
It is inherited from Old Spanish creer, inherited from Latin crēdere (“to believe; to give credence (to someone)”). Old Spanish also had the forms creder, crer and creyer, and the old strong…
cresta
It is inherited from Latin crista (“crest, comb of a cock”). Corominas finds no example before 1490, but holds that the word has existed since the beginnings of the language; the CDH has it from…
criar
It is inherited from Latin creō (“to create; to beget”), a verb that in Latin could already mean “to give birth, engender” in Horace and Ovid. As a popular word it seems to survive only in the three…
criatura
It is borrowed from Latin creātūra (“thing created, creature”), which the DCECH counts as a learned word. The Tentative Dictionary files it under criar, the popular descendant of the same Latin…
crimen
It is borrowed from Latin crīmen (“accusation; crime”), a learned word. In Latin it meant first a charge or accusation, and in the late period a fault or offence. Bénaben describes the change as the…
criminal
It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Late Latin criminālis (“of crime”). The CDH and the Tentative Dictionary have it first in the Cantar de mio Cid. Corominas lists Berceo, and the BDELC dates…
crisis
It is borrowed from Latin crisis (“decision; crisis”), which is from Ancient Greek κρίσις (krísis, “separation; decision, judgement”). The Greek noun is formed from κρίνω (krī́nō, “to separate…
cristo
It is borrowed from Latin Christus (“Christ”), which is from Ancient Greek Χριστός (Khrīstós, “the Anointed”). The Greek name is the noun use of an adjective meaning “anointed”, from χρίω (khríō…
cruz
It is inherited from Latin crux (“cross; gallows; pillory; torment”), by a semi-learned route. The Latin word survives in popular form in every Romance language, and only Spanish and Portuguese…
cuadrilla
It is formed from Spanish cuadro + -illa, a diminutive of the noun for a square. Corominas lists it among the derivatives of that noun and dates it to the second half of the 13th century; the Breve…
cuadro
It is inherited from Latin quadrum (“a square”), a word of the same family as quattuor (“four”). The DLE and Moliner derive it instead from the adjective quadrus (“square”), whose neuter was used as…
cual
It is inherited from Old Spanish qual, inherited from Latin quālis (“of what kind; such as”). In Latin the word asked or stated the quality or nature of something and answered to tālis (“such”); in…
cualidad
It is inherited from Old Spanish qualidad, borrowed from Latin quālitās (“quality, nature”), a learned word. The form calidad, recorded earlier, is the same borrowing. Wiktionary counts the two as…
cuando
It is inherited from Latin quandō (“when”); Old Spanish quando is recorded from the 10th century. The Latin word was both temporal, “when”, and causal, “since”, and replaced cum in these uses. The…