200s

Italian words from Latin words first recorded in the 3rd century

8 Italian words inherited from a Latin word whose earliest known written record dates from the 3rd century, earliest Latin record first.

1. avanti

   220

   from Latin abante

   It is inherited from Late Latin abante (“in front, before”), formed from ab (“from”) and ante (“before”). The Late Latin word is recorded from the 2nd century, in the Old Latin Bible, and was used…

2. conoscenza

   220

   from Latin cognoscentia

   It is inherited from Late Latin cognōscentia (“knowledge, wisdom”), formed on cognōscēns, the present participle of cognōscō (“to get to know”). GDLI calls it a learned word formed like essenza and…

3. presto

   220

   from Latin praestus

   The adjective is inherited from Late Latin praestus (“ready”), a Vulgar Latin *praestus formed from the classical adverb Latin praestō (“at hand, available”), used in the phrase ⟨praesto esse⟩ “to…

4. migliorare

   223

   from Latin melioro

   It is inherited from Late Latin meliōrāre, formed from Latin melior (“better”) and first recorded in the jurist Ulpian (before 228 AD). The same verb is Old Occitan melhurar, Catalan millorar and…

5. salvare

   260

   from Latin salvo

   It is inherited from Late Latin salvō (“to heal; to keep safe; to redeem”), a verb made in Late Latin from the adjective Latin salvus (“whole, unharmed, safe”) (see salvo), which took the place of…

6. ballare

   300–499

   from Latin ballo

   It is inherited from Late Latin ballō (“to dance; to sway”), recorded in Saint Augustine in 393. Inscriptions with Latin baliator at Pompeii (before 79) and ballatores at Rome (3rd century) suggest…

7. dentro

   300–399

   from Latin deintro

   It is inherited from Late Latin deintro (“inside”), a compound of dē (“from”) and intrō (“inside, within”). DEI notes that the compound is recorded from the 4th century, as the opposite of deforis…

8. perdonare

   300–499

   from Latin perdono

   It is inherited from Late Latin perdōnāre (“to grant; to forgive”), a verb recorded in Medieval Latin from the 10th century. It was formed from dōnō (“to give as a gift”) with the prefix per-; DELI…

All Italian words inherited from Latin, by century →