300–201 BC

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

287 Italian words inherited from a Latin word whose earliest known written record dates from the 3rd century BC, earliest Latin record first (page 3).

spesso
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin spissus

It is inherited from Latin spissus (“thick, dense”). The adverb “often” is the adjective used adverbially, through the sense “numerous, frequent”. The word is panromance: French épais, Occitan…
sposa
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin sponsa

It is inherited from Latin spōnsa (“woman promised in marriage, fiancée”), the feminine of spōnsus (“betrothed”), the past participle of spondeō (“to promise solemnly”) used as a noun. The pair is…
stare
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin sto

It is inherited from Latin stō (“to stand, stand firm; to be situated”). The Latin present participle stāns lives on in stante. The verb is found in every Romance language: Old French ester (the…
tacere
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin taceo

It is inherited from Latin taceō (“to be silent”). The same word is French taire (Old French taisir), Occitan tazer, Romansh taschair, Friulian taze, Dalmatian takar and Romanian tăcea. Northern…
tanto
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin tantus

It is inherited from Latin tantus (“so great”), and as an adverb its neuter tantum (“so much; only”). The Latin adjective was in use at every period, with the original sense “so great”, in…
tardi
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin tarde

It is inherited from Latin tardē (“slowly; late”), the adverb of tardus (“slow”), originally an instrumental case form. Sabatini explains the final /i/ as the ending felt to be typical of adverbs…
temere
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin timeo

It is inherited from Latin timēre (“to fear”). The same Latin verb is Occitan temer, Catalan tembre, Spanish temer, Portuguese temer, Sardinian timire and Romanian teme. The origin of the Latin verb…
tenere
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin teneo

It is inherited from Latin teneō (“to hold; to keep; to possess”). The verb lives on in all Romance languages: French tenir, Occitan tenir, Catalan tenir, Spanish tener, Portuguese ter, Sardinian…
troia
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin troia

It is inherited from Medieval Latin troia (“sow”), first recorded in the 8th-century Kassel Glosses, where it translates the Germanic word for “sow”. The word is found in Italian and Gallo-Romance…
uso
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin usus

It is inherited from Latin ūsus (“use, practice; experience; benefit”), a noun formed on the past participle of ūtor (“to use”). The participle itself, used early as a noun, was the base of a new…
valere
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin valeo

It is inherited from Latin valēre (“to be strong; to be worth”). The Latin verb first meant “to be strong”, and, of coins, “to have a value”, and then “to be well”. The word is pan-Romance except…
vendere
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin vendo

It is inherited from Latin vēndō (“to sell”), which goes back to the phrase vēnum dō (“to give for sale”). The Latin verb has continuations in every Romance language, from which DÉRom reconstructs a…
vero
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin verus

It is inherited from Latin vērus (“true, real”); the noun use continues the Latin neuter used as a noun, vērum (“the truth”). The word is panromance: Old French voir (modern French vrai is a…
vincere
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin vinco

It is inherited from Latin vincō (“to conquer, overcome”). The same verb is French vaincre, Occitan venser, Catalan vencer, Spanish vencer, Portuguese vencer, Sardinian bìnchere and Romanian…
vivo
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin vivus

It is inherited from Latin vīvus (“alive, living”), related to vīvō (“to live”). The adjective is found throughout Romance: French vif, Occitan viu, Catalan viu, Spanish vivo, Portuguese vivo…
anzi
234 BC–149 BC

from Latin antea

It is inherited from Latin antea (“before, previously”), the adverb formed from ante (“before”), according to one explanation DELI gives, or a comparative Vulgar Latin *antius, according to the…
aiutare
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin adiuto

It is inherited from Latin adiūtō (“to help”), an intensive of adiuvō (“to help”), which is formed from ad- and iuvō (“to help, please”), the source of giovare. DEI notes that Bede already called…
albero
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin arbor

It is inherited from Latin arborem (“tree”), the accusative of the Latin word. The first “r” became “l” by dissimilation from the second, as DELI and Devoto explain it, and Wiktionary traces the…
antico
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin antiquus

It is inherited from Latin antīquus (“old, former, ancient”). The LEI notes that the Latin adjective was already written with ⟨c⟩, and all the Romance languages except Romanian continue it; except…
arte
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin ars

It is inherited from Latin ars (“skill, craft; art”), from the accusative “artem”. The word is found in all the Romance languages: French art, Occitan art, Catalan art, Spanish arte and Portuguese…
aspettare
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin exspecto

It continues inherited from Latin exspectāre (“to wait for, expect”), from spectō (“to look at”), with a change of prefix. Nocentini, Sabatini–Coletti and Gabrielli start from a popular form Vulgar…
bello
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin bellus

It is inherited from Latin bellus (“pretty, charming”), a diminutive of bonus (“good”). DELI and the LEI describe it as a word of familiar and affectionate speech, at first used by women and…
bene
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin bene

It is inherited from Latin bene (“well”), the adverb that belongs to Latin bonus (“good”). In Latin it was often combined with a verb or adjective, and many of these compounds came into Italian as…
bocca
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin bucca

It is inherited from Latin bucca (“cheek; mouth”). The Latin word first meant “cheek”, as it still does in Romanian bucă, and, from Cato onwards also “mouth” in familiar speech, where it displaced…
braccio
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin bracchium

It is inherited from Latin brāc(c)hium (“arm; forearm”), borrowed from Ancient Greek βραχίων (brakhíōn, “arm”). Already the ancients explained the Greek word as “the shorter”, a comparative of…
bravo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin barbarus

Its origin is disputed. It is most often explained as inherited from Latin barbarus (“foreign; wild”), from Ancient Greek βάρβαρος (bárbaros, “foreign, non-Greek”). The LEI derives it from a…
breve
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin brevis

It is inherited from Latin brevis (“short”), continued in its accusative form. The LEI and Nocentini count it among the inherited words, while Körting calls it half-learned in all the Romance…
calcio
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin calx

1. The kick is inherited from Latin calx (“heel”), from the stem “calc-”. The LEI takes “calcio” as a form of the Latin word moved into the “-o” declension, beside calce “heel” in Old Umbrian and…
canzone
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin cantio

It is inherited from Latin cantiō (“singing, song”) (accusative “cantiōnem”), a noun of action from canō (“to sing”) and -tiō. The Latin verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *keh₂n- (“to sing”). In…
cattivo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin captivus

It is inherited from Latin captīvus (“captive, prisoner”), from captus (“taken”), the past participle of capiō (“to take”). The sense “wicked” comes from the phrase Ecclesiastical Latin captīvus…
cento
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin centum

It is inherited from Latin centum (“hundred”), an indeclinable numeral. The Latin word survives across the Romance languages except Romanian, which took Romanian sută from Slavic: Dalmatian ciant…
certo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin certus

It is inherited from Latin certus (“fixed, settled; sure”). The Latin adjective is in origin the past participle of Latin cernō (“to sift, distinguish, decide”), so that its first meaning was…
chiamare
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin clamo

It is inherited from Latin clāmō (“to shout, proclaim; to call by name”). Its learned doublet is clamare. The word is panromance: Romanian chema, Dalmatian klamuar, Friulian clamâ, Old French…
chiave
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin clavis

It is inherited from Latin clāvis (“key; bar, bolt”), from the accusative. The word is pan-Romance: Romanian cheie, Dalmatian kluf, Friulian clâf, Romansh clav, French clef, Occitan clau, Catalan…
cieco
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin caecus

It is inherited from Latin caecus (“blind; dark; invisible”). The word survives in Old French cieu, since replaced by aveugle, Occitan cec, Catalan cec, Spanish ciego and Portuguese cego, but not in…
città
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin civitas

It is inherited from Latin cīvitās (“citizenship; the citizens; city”) (in Italian from its accusative case), a derivative of cīvis (“citizen”) with the suffix -tās. DELI traces the Latin noun for…
colore
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin color

It is inherited from Latin color (“colour, complexion”), from the accusative “colōrem”. DELI calls it a learned word, but the LEI treats it as inherited, since the noun lives on in every Romance…
condurre
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin conduco

It is inherited from Latin condūcō (“to bring together; to hire, rent”), formed from con- (“with, together”) and dūcō (“to lead”). The infinitive is a contraction of the older conducere, which…
confermare
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin confirmo

It is inherited from Latin cōnfirmāre (“to strengthen; to ratify”), formed with con- on firmō (“to make firm”), from firmus (“firm, stable”). The LEI counts the form with e among the popular…
contare
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin computo

It is inherited from Latin computō (“to reckon, count”), with the loss of the unstressed middle vowel. The Latin verb is formed from putō (“to reckon, think; to prune”) with con-. The learned…
coppia
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin copula

It is inherited from Latin cōpula (“a band, a leash”), inherited from Vulgar Latin *cōpla, with the middle vowel lost. The short form is attested in Latin as the accusative coplam in a papyrus. The…
coprire
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin cooperio

It is inherited from Latin cooperīre (“to cover completely”), formed with co- on operiō (“to cover, close”). The unstressed vowel before the stress was lost in the normal way. The past historic…
corso
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin cursus

1. The noun “course” is inherited from Latin cursus (“a running; course, direction”), the action noun of currō (“to run”). The word is found throughout Romance: French cours, Occitan cos, Catalan…
costa
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin costa

It is inherited from Latin costa (“rib; side, flank”). The word is common to the Romance languages: French côte, Catalan costa, Spanish cuesta, Portuguese costa, Sardinian costa, Romanian coastă…
costare
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin consto

It is inherited from Latin cōnstāre (“to stand firm; to cost, be worth”), from stō (“to stand”) with the prefix con-. Sabatini notes that it is a popular word, with the Latin cluster /nst/…
dimostrare
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin demonstro

It is inherited from Latin dēmōnstrō (“to point out, show; to prove”), from mōnstrō (“to show”) with the prefix dē-. Nocentini derives the simple verb from mōnstrum (“sign; portent”), the source of…
dolce
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin dulcis

It is inherited from Latin dulcis (“sweet”). The word is pan-Romance: Romanian dulce, French doux, Occitan dous, Catalan dolç, Old Spanish duz (now Spanish dulce) and Portuguese doce. The origin of…
dono
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin donum

It is inherited from Latin dōnum (“gift”). The word is pan-Romance, except Romanian: French don, Occitan do, Catalan do, Spanish don, Romansh dun in the Engadine and Sardinian donu in Logudorese…
dovere
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin debeo

It is inherited from Latin dēbeō (“to owe; to be under an obligation”), contracted from an older “*dē-habeō”, a compound of dē- (“away from”) and habeō (“to have, hold”), the source of avere. The…
durare
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin duro

It is inherited from Latin dūrāre (“to harden; to hold out, endure, last”). The same verb is French durer, Occitan durar, Catalan durar, Spanish durar, Portuguese durar, Sardinian durare and…
duro
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin durus

It is inherited from Latin dūrus (“hard, solid; harsh”). The word is pan-Romance, found also in Dalmatian and Sardinian but not in Romanian: French dur, Occitan dur, Catalan dur, Spanish duro…
entrare
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin intro

It is inherited from Latin intrō (“to go into”), from intrā (“inside, within”). The Latin verb is panromance: French entrer, Occitan entrar, Catalan entrar, Spanish entrar, Portuguese entrar…
entro
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin intro

It is inherited from Latin intrō (“inside, to the inside”). The TLIO adds the influence of inter (“between”). Romanian întru is the same word, and REW also cites Old Spanish entro (“until”). The…
fallo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin fallo

1. The noun for a fault or error is a deverbal noun of fallare (“to err, to sin”), formed without a suffix, like falla. The verb is inherited from Late Latin fallāre, a verb of the glosses that…
fede
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin fides

It is inherited from Latin fidem (“trust; faith; loyalty”). With the Latin derivatives fidēlis and fidēlitās it gave fedele and fedeltà. Battaglia's dictionary (GDLI) calls it a learned word that…
fermo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin firmus

It is inherited from Latin firmus (“firm, stable, strong”). The Latin ⟨i⟩ in place of an expected ⟨e⟩ is held to be a rustic, non-Roman trait; de Vaan prefers to explain it as raising after a…
figliolo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin filiolus

It is inherited from Latin fīliolus (“little son”), the diminutive of fīlius (“son”) with the suffix -olus. Sabatini–Coletti start from Vulgar Latin *filiolu. In Italian it can also be read as from…
filo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin filum

It is inherited from Latin fīlum (“thread, line”). It is pan-Romance: French fil, Occitan fil, Catalan fil, Spanish hilo, Portuguese fio, Sardinian filu and Romanian fir. DEI notes that many of the…
folle
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin follis

It is inherited from Latin follis (“leather bag, bellows; ball”), through its accusative. The meaning passed by metaphor from a bag full of air or a ball to an empty head, and so to a fool. DEI…
fondo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin fundus

It is inherited from Latin fundus (“bottom; farm, estate”), and both Latin senses live on. The word is found in all the Romance languages: French fond (beside fonds), Occitan fons, Spanish hondo…

All Italian words inherited from Latin, by century →