Proto-West Germanic words from Latin
18 Proto-West Germanic words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
*-ārī
It is plainly borrowed from Latin -ārius; Gothic borrowed the Latin suffix independently. The suffix was not borrowed by itself: words containing it were borrowed together with the words they were…
*asil
It is borrowed from Latin asellus (“little donkey”), the diminutive of asinus (“donkey”). EWA supports the change of Latin *asell- to Germanic *asil- with parallels such as Old High German flegil…
*biskop
It is borrowed from Latin episcopus (“bishop”) in a Vulgar Latin form, which goes back to Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos, “overseer”). Green argues that two features of *biskop, the voicing of…
*disk
It is borrowed from Latin discus (“disc, plate”), which is from Ancient Greek δίσκος (dískos, “round plate”). Ringe and Taylor list it among the Latin loanwords that could have been borrowed within…
*drakō
It is borrowed from Latin dracō (“dragon”), which is from Ancient Greek δράκων (drákōn, “dragon”). Ringe and Taylor describe the Latin word as late, and often the name of a military banner. Green…
*flagil
It is borrowed from Latin flagellum (“scourge, whip; later flail”). EWA explains the West Germanic form by a secondary adaptation to the masculine names of tools in -il. EWA describes the Latin word…
*kalik
It is borrowed from Latin calix (“cup, goblet, chalice”). EWA takes the Old Saxon, Old Dutch, Old Frisian and Old English words, like Old High German kelih, from the Latin word. Köbler sets up a…
*kalk
It is borrowed from Latin calx (“lime, limestone”), from the accusative singular calcem. Green counts it among the words that came with Roman building in stone, and calls it a relatively early loan…
*kamp
It is borrowed from Latin campus (“field, battlefield”), one of the Latin loanwords of Proto-West Germanic. EWA too derives the West Germanic words from the Latin noun, and holds that their…
*klokkā
It is borrowed from Medieval Latin clocca (“bell”). Green finds that clocca replaced Latin signum for the church bell in northern France in the 7th century, and that the new word also entered West…
*kokur
Wiktionary takes it to be borrowed from Medieval Latin cucurus (“quiver”), and Holthausen, with a question mark, derives Old English cocer from cucurum. EWA thinks instead that the word probably…
*maistar
It is borrowed from Latin magister (“leader, teacher, master”) in a Vulgar Latin form. EWA derives Old High German meistar from an early Romance form in which the middle -g- had probably already…
*pāl
It is borrowed from Latin pālus (“stake, pole”). EWA calls it an early loan, taken into Old High German before the Second Sound Shift and well attested in the other North and West Germanic…
*parruk
Holthausen, Köbler and EWA take the West Germanic words to be borrowed from Medieval Latin parricus (“fence, enclosure”), which Gamillscheg finds in the Lex Ripuaria in the 8th century. Köbler…
*pulwī
It is borrowed from Latin pulvīnus (“cushion, pillow”), which Wiktionary takes with the suffix *-ī. EWA calls it an early loan. Green links it with the Roman trade in goose down from Germania, which…
*sikur
It is borrowed from Latin sēcūrus (“without worry, tranquil, secure”). Ringe and Taylor count it among at least two Latin adjectives that might have been borrowed into Proto-West Germanic, the other…
*skrīban
It is borrowed from Latin scrībō (“to write”). Ringe and Taylor count it among the few verbs that could have been borrowed as early as Proto-West Germanic, and call it the only Germanic strong verb…
*strātu
It is borrowed from Latin strāta (“paved (road)”), from the phrase via strāta (“paved road”). EWA explains the Latin word as the feminine past participle of sternō (“to spread, to strew, to level”)…