AD 1–100

Italian words from Latin words first recorded in the 1st century

9 Italian words inherited from a Latin word whose earliest known written record dates from the 1st century, earliest Latin record first.

1. strega

   1–99

   from Latin striga

   It is inherited from Latin strĭga (“witch; screech owl”), recorded in Petronius, a popular variant of strīx (“screech owl”). The Latin word was taken from Ancient Greek στρίξ (stríx), a bird of the…

2. camminare

   23–79

   from Latin camino

   It is inherited from Late Latin camināre (“to walk, travel”), a verb recorded in Venantius Fortunatus in the 6th century, which Wiktionary gives as *cammīnāre. DELI, GRADIT, the TLIO and Devoto…

3. girare

   23–79

   from Latin gyro

   It is inherited from Late Latin gȳrō (“to turn round in a circle”), derived from gȳrus (“circle, ring, turn”), which is from Ancient Greek γῦρος (gûros, “circle, ring”). DEI notes that the Latin…

4. spada

   25–35

   from Latin spatha

   It is inherited from Latin spatha (“weaver's batten; broad sword”), a word Latin took from Ancient Greek σπάθη (spáthē, “spatula, broad blade”). The Latin word meant both the weaver's flat wooden…

5. giorno

   35–40

   from Latin diurnum

   It is inherited from Late Latin diurnum (“day”), short for diurnum tempus (“daytime”), the neuter of the adjective Latin diurnus (“of the day, daily”). The noun is recorded in Latin from the 4th…

6. matto

   66

   from Latin mattus

   It is inherited from Late Latin mattus, but the history of that word is disputed. Most dictionaries connect it with the colloquial matus (“drunk”) of Petronius (“plane mattus sum”, “I am thoroughly…

7. chiesa

   97–113

   from Latin ecclesia

   It is inherited from Latin ecclēsia (“assembly; church”), borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía, “assembly”), from ἐκκαλέω (ekkaléō, “to call out, summon”). The Greek word was the usual…

8. traditore

   98–120

   from Latin traditor

   It is inherited from Latin trāditor (“one who hands over”), formed from trādō (“to hand over”) with the agent suffix -tor, and it followed the meaning of tradire. The sense “betrayer” spread in the…

9. fratello

   100–150

   from Latin fratellus

   It is inherited from Latin frātellus (“little brother”), a diminutive of frāter (“brother”). DELI and Nocentini give it as a word of spoken Latin, DEI as a Late Latin word recorded by the…

All Italian words inherited from Latin, by century →