Spanish words from Latin
1854 Spanish words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 9).
descubrir
It is inherited from Late Latin discooperīre (“to uncover”), found in Saint Jerome. The Latin verb is made of dis- and cooperiō (“to cover completely”), the source of cubrir, which is derived from…
desdeñar
It is inherited from Latin dēdignor (“to reject as unworthy, to scorn”). Wiktionary, the Italian DELI, the Catalan DCVB and Nascentes start instead from Vulgar Latin *disdignare, a reshaping with…
desfigurar
It is formed from Spanish des- + figura + -ar, “to undo the shape”. Corominas lists it among the derivatives of the noun, and DICCA-XV derives it from figurar. The DLE and Moliner give instead Latin…
deshacer
It is formed from Spanish des- + hacer, Old Spanish desfazer. Wiktionary takes it directly from Medieval Latin disfacere and treats the Spanish analysis as synchronic. hacer is from Latin faciō (“to…
desierto
It is inherited from Old Spanish desierto, inherited from Latin dēsertus (“abandoned, deserted”), the past participle of dēserō (“to leave, abandon”). The noun continues the neuter dēsertum…
desobediencia
It is formed from Spanish des- + obediencia. The base is from Latin oboedientia (“obedience”), from the verb oboediō (“to obey”), which Latin formed from audiō (“to hear”). Latin itself said…
despojar
It is inherited from Old Spanish despoiar, inherited from Latin dēspoliō (“to rob, plunder”). The Latin verb is formed from dē- and spoliō (“to strip, rob”), which comes from spolium (“skin of an…
después
It is inherited from Old Spanish depues (“after, afterwards”) in an altered form, and that is inherited from Vulgar Latin dē post (“after; behind”). The older form is found from the 11th to the 13th…
destilar
It is borrowed from Latin dēstīllō (“to drip, trickle down”), a learned word. The Latin verb, often written distillare in the manuscripts, is formed from dē- (“down”) and stīllō (“to drip”), from…
destruir
It is inherited from Old Spanish destruir, borrowed from Latin dēstruō (“to pull down, demolish”). Corominas calls it a learned word that entered Spanish much earlier than construir, first recorded…
deuda
It is inherited from Old Spanish debda, inherited from Latin dēbita (“things owed”), the neuter plural of dēbitum (“debt”), taken as a feminine singular. The Latin noun is the past participle of…
devoción
It is inherited from Old Spanish devoçión, borrowed from Latin dēvōtiō (“a devoting; devotion”), a learned word first recorded in Berceo. The Latin noun is formed from dēvoveō (“to devote…
día
It is inherited from Old Spanish dia, inherited from Vulgar Latin *dia, a first-declension reshaping of Latin diēs (“day”). The Vulgar Latin form prevailed in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan and…
diablo
It is borrowed from Late Latin diabolus (“devil”), according to Corominas a word taken from Church Latin, which is from Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos), properly “one who divides or slanders”…
diciembre
It is inherited from Old Spanish deziembre or diziembre, inherited from Latin December (“December”). The Latin name meant “the tenth (month)”, because the Roman year originally began in March; it is…
dictar
It is borrowed from Latin dictō (“to say repeatedly; to dictate”), the frequentative of dīcō (“to say”), whose inherited outcome is decir. The first record is in Berceo, in the first half of the…
diente
It is inherited from Old Spanish diente, inherited from Latin dēns (“tooth”). The Latin word is continued all over the Romance area: Portuguese dente, Galician dente, Catalan dent, French dent…
diestro
It is inherited from Old Spanish diestro, inherited from Latin dexter (“right, on the right-hand side; skilful”). The feminine continues dextra (“right hand”). Corominas cites the Latin word both in…
diez
It is inherited from Latin decem (“ten”). The same Latin word is Portuguese dez, Galician dez, Asturian diez, Catalan deu, Occitan detz, French dix, Italian dieci and Romanian zece. The Latin…
diferencia
It is borrowed from Latin differentia (“difference, distinction”), a learned word first recorded in Berceo. The Latin noun is formed on differēns, the present participle of differō (“to carry apart…
difícil
It is borrowed from Latin difficilis (“hard to do; hard to deal with”), a learned word. Vox dates the borrowing to the 15th century. The Spanish nouns and verbs dificultad and dificultar were taken…
dificultad
It is borrowed from Latin difficultās (“difficulty”), a learned word. The noun is formed from Latin difficilis + -tās; difficilis (“difficult”) is the opposite of facilis (“easy”), which comes from…
diligencia
It is borrowed from Latin dīligentia (“carefulness, attentiveness”), a learned word. Corominas dates it to about 1375, in the chronicle of Peter the Cruel, and says it was frequent from then on. The…
dinero
It is inherited from Old Spanish dinero, inherited from Vulgar Latin *dīnārius, a form of Latin dēnārius (“a silver coin first worth ten asses”). The Latin noun is the adjective “containing ten”…
dios
It continues inherited from Old Spanish dios, inherited from Latin deus (“god”). Unlike most Spanish nouns it comes from the Latin nominative deus, not from the accusative deum: the oldest texts…
directo
It is borrowed from Latin dīrēctus (“straight; directed”), the past participle of dīrigō (“to align, steer, direct”). It is the learned doublet of derecho, the inherited outcome of the participle's…
director
It is borrowed from Late Latin director (“one who directs, guide”), first recorded in Spanish in 1604. The Late Latin noun was formed from dīrēctus (“straight; directed”), the past participle of…
dirigir
It is borrowed from Latin dīrigō (“to set in a line; to direct”), a learned word. Corominas dates it to the 15th century, after Cuervo; the CDH has it in Aragonese prose from 1385. The Latin verb is…
discernir
It is borrowed from Latin discernō (“to separate, distinguish”), a learned word of the second quarter of the 15th century according to Corominas. The Latin verb is formed from dis- (“apart”) and…
disco
1. The word for the disc is borrowed from Latin discus (“quoit; dish”), a learned borrowing. The Latin word is from Ancient Greek δίσκος (dískos, “quoit”). The traditional explanation of the Greek…
discordante
It is borrowed from Latin discordāns (“disagreeing”), the present participle of discordō (“to be at variance, disagree”). Wiktionary analyses it instead as from Spanish discordar + -ante, and the…
discutir
It is borrowed from Latin discutere (“to shatter, disperse; to decide”). The Latin verb is formed from dis- (“apart”) and quatiō (“to shake”). Its sense “to examine, discuss”, foreign to classical…
disparar
It continues inherited from Latin disparāre (“to divide, separate”), which the Romance languages took as the negative of parō (“to prepare”). To desparar a crossbow was therefore the opposite of…
disparidad
It is formed from Spanish dispar + -idad, as the DLE and García de Diego explain it. The adjective is from Latin dispar (“unequal, unlike”), first recorded in Spanish in 1444. Corominas dates the…
distinguir
It is borrowed from Latin distinguō (“to separate, divide; to distinguish”). Corominas dates it to the second half of the 13th century. Nascentes calls the Portuguese word semi-learned. The same…
disturbar
It is borrowed from Latin disturbō (“to drive asunder, throw into disorder”), a learned borrowing. The Latin verb combines dis- and turbō (“to agitate, disturb”). The same Latin verb was inherited…
disturbio
It is formed from Spanish disturbar + -io. disturbar “to perturb” is from Latin disturbō (“to demolish, upset”); Corominas calls it a rare learned form beside the inherited estorbar, Old Spanish…
divertir
It is a learned borrowed from Latin dīvertō (“to turn aside, separate”). The DLE glosses the Latin verb as “to lead different ways”, and Corominas as “to turn away”, whence “to distract oneself”…
divorcio
It is borrowed from Latin divortium (“separation; divorce”). The Latin noun is formed from dīvertō (“to turn aside, separate”), and so belongs with divertir and verter. That verb is dis- (“apart”)…
doble
It continues inherited from Latin duplus (“double”), or, as the DLE says, Latin duplex (“twofold”). The final ⟨-e⟩ is hard to explain. García de Diego derives it from the Latin adverb duple…
doce
It is inherited from Old Spanish doze, inherited from Latin duodecim (“twelve”). Cunha and Gómez de Silva give Vulgar Latin dodece as the intermediate form, and Old Spanish also had dodze. Corominas…
doctor
It is borrowed from Latin doctor (“teacher, one who teaches”), a learned word. The DLE specifies doctor, noting that the classical word meant “teacher”. Vox dates the borrowing to the 13th century…
doctorado
In the DLE it is borrowed from Medieval Latin doctoratus (“doctorate”). That word was formed from doctor (“teacher”) with the suffix -ātus. The 2001 edition of the Academy's dictionary had instead…
doctoral
It is formed from Spanish doctor + -al, and Corominas lists it among that noun's derivatives with the date 1611. Autoridades gave Medieval Latin doctoralis as the Latin word in common use. Niermeyer…
documento
It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin documentum (“teaching; example; proof”). The Latin noun is formed doceō (“to teach”) + -mentum. In Medieval Latin it had come to mean also written…
dogma
It is borrowed from Latin dogma (“doctrine, tenet”), which is from Ancient Greek δόγμα (dógma, “opinion; decision, decree”), from the verb δοκέω (dokéō, “to seem, be of the opinion”). In classical…
dogmático
It is borrowed from Late Latin dogmaticus, from Ancient Greek δογματικός (dogmatikós, “of or for doctrines”). Corominas lists it among the derivatives of dogma, with the date 1732. The Greek…
dolor
It is inherited from Old Spanish dolor, inherited from Latin dolor (“pain, grief”). Wikcionario calls it a learned word, but Wiktionary and the other sources give it as inherited; Corominas lists it…
domingo
It is inherited from Old Spanish domingo, inherited from Late Latin dominicus (“of the Lord”), short for diēs Dominicus (“the Lord's day, Sunday”). Corominas calls it a semi-learned descendant of…
don
1. The word for the gift is inherited from Latin dōnum (“gift, present”), as the DLE, the BDELC, García de Diego and Wiktionary give it. Corominas, in the DCECH, sees the word rather as a noun from…
donar
It is inherited from Latin dōnō (“to give as a present, bestow”). Corominas notes that it may be an old semi-learned word, but the popular development of Portuguese doar and Galician doar supports…
dormir
It is inherited from Latin dormiō (“to sleep”); Old Spanish dormir has the same form. The same Latin verb is Portuguese dormir, Catalan dormir, Occitan dormir, French dormir and Italian dormire. A…
dos
It is inherited from Old Spanish dos, inherited from Latin duōs (“two”), the accusative form: as usual, Romance generalised the Latin accusative. The /u/ was pronounced as a close /o/ in late Vulgar…
dudar
It is inherited from Old Spanish dubdar, inherited from Latin dubitō (“to waver, to doubt”), taken over at an early date. The Latin verb comes from dubius (“wavering, doubtful”), itself from duo…
duelo
1. The word for a duel is borrowed from Medieval Latin duellum (“combat between two”). In classical Latin the word meant “war” and was an archaic variant of Latin bellum; the sense “fight between…
dueño
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin domnus, the shortened form of Latin dominus (“master of a household, lord”). Wiktionary calls the short form Late Latin; the OLD finds it written with the stem…
dulce
It is inherited from Latin dulcis (“sweet”). The same Latin word is Portuguese doce, Galician doce, Catalan dolç, Occitan dous, French doux, Italian dolce and Romanian dulce. The ⟨u⟩ of the Spanish…
duque
It is borrowed from Old French duc (“duke”). The Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish gives Old Occitan duc as the source instead. The Old French word is itself from Latin dux (“leader, guide”)…
durante
It is from Spanish durar + -nte, the old present participle of the verb used as a preposition. Corominas records it first as an adjective meaning “lasting” (1382) and as a preposition from about…
durar
It is inherited from Latin dūrāre (“to last; to harden; to be patient, persevere”). Latinists disagree whether the sense “to last” and the sense “to harden” belonged to one verb from the start…