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 4).

fortuna
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin fortuna

It is inherited from Latin fortūna (“chance, fate; good luck; wealth”), derived from fors (“chance”). DEI and the GDLI see the learned tradition of the word, while Nocentini notes that French…
fumo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin fumus

It is inherited from Latin fūmus (“smoke”), from Proto-Italic *fūmos. The word is pan-Romance: Old French fum (modern French fumée), Occitan fum, Catalan fum, Spanish humo, Portuguese fumo…
fuori
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin foris

It is inherited from Latin forīs (“outside”). The variants ⟨fora⟩ and ⟨fuora⟩ continue forās (“out, to the outside”), used for motion, while forīs expressed rest; DEI notes that the two were used…
giovane
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin iuvenis

It is inherited from Latin iuvenis (“young; young person”), through a spoken form Vulgar Latin *iovenis with /o/ in the first syllable. The unstressed vowel after the stress opened to /a/, as usual…
giudicare
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin iudico

It continues inherited from Latin iūdicō (“to judge, pass judgement”), from iūdex (“judge”). GDLI calls it a semi-learned word. Like the noun, the verb is analysed as iūs (“law”) and dīcō (“to…
gola
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin gula

It is inherited from Latin gula (“throat, gullet; gluttony”), a word that already had the figurative sense “gluttony” in Latin, as early as Sallust. The same word is French gueule (“mouth, face”)…
grande
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin grandis

It is inherited from Latin grandis (“grown up, big, tall”). The Latin word was colloquial beside the more classical magnus (“great”), and in the Romance languages it replaced it. According to…
grave
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin gravis

It is inherited from Latin gravis (“heavy; serious”), heavy in both the physical and the moral sense. The DEI notes that the Latin adjective survived in central and southern Italy, Sardinia, Spain…
lago
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin lacus

It is inherited from Old Italian laco, inherited from Latin lacus (“lake; basin, tank”), from the accusative lacum. The voiced /ɡ/ of the modern word in place of /k/ is a northern development, as in…
largo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin largus

It is inherited from Latin largus (“abundant; generous”). In Latin the word meant “abundant” and then “generous”, a sense kept mainly in derivatives such as largire; Latin said “wide” with lātus…
lato
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin latus

It is inherited from Latin latus (“side, flank”), a neuter noun with the stem ⟨later-⟩. Latin already used it in mathematics (Quintilian), and in Late Latin it became a preposition: “ad latus”…
lavorare
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin laboro

It is inherited from Latin labōrō (“to toil, labour; to till”). The Latin verb is formed on labor (“toil, work”). In the western Romance languages the inherited verb mostly means “to plough”…
letto
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin lectus

It is inherited from Latin lectus (“bed, couch”). The word is common to the Romance languages except Romanian: French lit, Occitan liech, Catalan llit, Spanish lecho and Portuguese leito; in Spain…
levare
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin levo

It is inherited from Latin levō (“to lighten; to raise”), a verb formed from levis (“light”). The verb is found in every Romance language: French lever, Occitan levar, Catalan llevar, Spanish llevar…
mamma
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin mamma

It is inherited from Latin mamma (“mother; breast”), a word of children's speech that meant both “breast” and “mother”. DELI points to the universal equation of the two meanings that Roman Jakobson…
manco
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin mancus

It is inherited from Latin mancus (“maimed, crippled; defective”). The Latin adjective first meant “maimed in the hand”: Nocentini, the OLD and Devoto derive it from manus (“hand”) with the suffix…
marito
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin maritus

It is inherited from Latin marītus (“married; husband”). DELI calls it a learned word, but Nocentini and Meyer-Lübke treat it as inherited. In Latin it was first an adjective of farming: trees were…
mercato
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin mercatus

It is inherited from Latin mercātus (“trade; market, fair”), an action noun from mercor (“to trade, to buy”), itself from merx (“goods, merchandise”). The same word is French marché, Occitan mercat…
mese
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin mensis

It is inherited from Latin mēnsis (“month”), from the accusative ⟨mensem⟩. The word is found in all the Romance languages: French mois, Occitan mes, Catalan mes, Spanish mes, Portuguese mês…
minuto
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin minutus

1. The adjective is inherited from Latin minūtus (“small, tiny”), properly the past participle of minuō (“to make smaller, diminish”), which comes from minus (“less”), the neuter of minor…
mondo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin mundus

1. The adjective is inherited from Latin mundus (“clean, neat; elegant”). DELI calls it a learned word. The Latin adjective also survives in Old French mont, Old Occitan mon, Spanish mondo…
mostrare
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin monstro

It is inherited from Latin mōnstrō (“to show, point out”), a verb formed from mōnstrum (“portent, sign”). The original sense was “to point out the will of the gods”, but the verb soon passed into…
muovere
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin moveo

It is inherited from Latin movēre (“to move”), with a change of conjugation, through a Vulgar Latin *movĕre. The verb is found throughout Romance except Romanian and Sardinian: French mouvoir…
natale
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin natalis

It is inherited from Latin nātālis (“of birth”), an adjective in -ālis from nātus (“born”), the past participle of nāscor (“to be born”). The name of the feast comes from Christian Latin, where the…
nemico
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin inimicus

It is inherited from Latin inimīcus (“unfriendly; enemy”), with the loss of the first syllable. The Latin word is a compound of the negative prefix in- and amīcus (“friend”), with the regular Latin…
nero
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin niger

It is inherited from Latin niger (“black, dark”), continuing its accusative, with the loss of /g/ before /r/. Devoto compares the same loss in intero from Latin integer, through a spoken form Vulgar…
nuovo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin novus

It is inherited from Latin novus (“new”). The word is pan-Romance: French neuf, Occitan nuou, Catalan nou, Spanish nuevo, Portuguese novo, Friulian ñuf, Sardinian nou and Romanian nou. The Latin…
ombra
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin umbra

It is inherited from Latin umbra (“shadow, shade”). The word is found in almost all the Romance languages: French ombre, Occitan ombra, Catalan ombra, Sardinian umbra and Romanian umbră, while…
ora
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin hora

The noun is inherited from Latin hōra (“hour; time”), from Ancient Greek ὥρα (hṓra), whose first meaning was “season, part of the year”. Nocentini and Wiktionary relate the Greek word to Old High…
pace
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pax

It is inherited from Latin pāx (“peace”), continuing its accusative pācem. The word is found throughout Romance: French paix, Occitan patz, Catalan pau, Spanish paz, Portuguese paz, Sardinian paghe…
pane
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin panis

It is inherited from Latin pānis (“bread; loaf”), continued through its accusative. The word is panromance: French pain, Occitan pan, Catalan pa, Spanish pan, Portuguese pão, Sardinian pane and…
partire
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin partio

It is inherited from Latin partiō (“to divide, share out”), the Late Latin active form of classical partior, from pars (“part”). DELI treats the verb “to divide” as a learned word, while Nocentini…
pelle
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pellis

It is inherited from Latin pellis (“skin, hide”). The word is panromance: French peau, Occitan pel, Catalan pell, Spanish piel, Sardinian peḍḍe and Romanian piele. Meyer-Lübke adds Dalmatian pial…
pesce
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin piscis

It is inherited from Latin pĭscis (“fish”), continued from the accusative ⟨piscem⟩. The word is panromance: French poisson, Occitan peis, Catalan peix, Spanish pez, Portuguese peixe, Sardinian…
piacere
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin placeo

It is inherited from Latin placēre (“to please”). The verb is panromance: French plaire, Occitan plazer, Catalan plaure, Spanish placer, Portuguese prazer, Sardinian piàghere and Romanian plăcea…
piano
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin planus

1. The word meaning “flat; slowly; floor” is inherited from Latin plānus (“flat, level; easy, clear”), with the noun plānum (“level ground, plain”), its neuter used as a noun. The adjective is found…
pollo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pullus

It is inherited from Latin pullum (“young of an animal; chick”). From the same Latin word come pulcino, pollone and pullulare. The same word is Occitan pol, Catalan poll and Spanish pollo; the…
polvere
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin pulvis

It is inherited from Latin pulvis (“dust”), from the accusative ⟨pulverem⟩; Latin had the noun as a masculine and more rarely as a feminine. The poetic doublet polve comes from the nominative. The…
porta
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin porta

It is inherited from Latin porta (“gate, city gate; passage”). The word is common to the Romance languages: French porte, Occitan porta, Catalan porta, Spanish puerta, Portuguese porta, Sardinian…
promettere
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin promitto

It is inherited from Latin prōmittō (“to send forward; to promise”), from prō- (“forward”) and mittō (“to send”), the source of mettere. DEI calls it a learned adaptation of the Latin verb. The same…
puro
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin purus

It is inherited from Latin pūrus (“clean, pure”). DELI treats it as a learned word, while Nocentini, Wiktionary and the REW count it among the inherited ones; the old diminutive puretto, which…
quarto
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin quartus

It is inherited from Latin quartus (“fourth”), the ordinal of quattuor (“four”). The same word is Old French quart, Occitan quart, Catalan quart, Spanish cuarto, Portuguese quarto, Logudorese kartu…
quattro
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin quattuor

It is inherited from Latin quattuor (“four”), through a spoken form quattor in which the ⟨u⟩ before the ending had dropped. The Latin numeral is panromance: French quatre, Occitan quatre, Catalan…
raggio
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin radius

It is inherited from Latin radius (“rod, staff; spoke; ray”), the popular outcome of the word beside the learned radio. Devoto starts from Vulgar Latin *radjus, treated like modius, which gave…
ragione
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin ratio

It is inherited from Latin ratiō (“reckoning, account; reason”), from its accusative. The Latin noun is formed on ratus (“counted, fixed”), the past participle of reor (“to count, think”). The same…
rete
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin rete

It is inherited from Latin rēte (“net”), neuter, and the feminine and masculine rētem that Latin also used. The word is pan-Romance except in Romanian: Old French roit, French rets (now disused)…
ricevere
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin recipio

It is inherited from Latin recipiō (“to take back; receive, admit”), formed from capiō (“to take”) with the prefix re- (“back”). DELI calls the Italian forms partly learned and partly popular, and…
riprendere
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin reprehendo

It is inherited from Latin reprehendō (“to hold back; to blame”), in its shortened form reprendō, from prehendō (“to seize”) with the prefix re- (“again, back”). DELI and the GDLI call it a learned…
ritenere
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin retineo

It is inherited from Latin retineō (“to hold back; to keep”), a compound of re- (“back”) and teneō (“to hold”). In Latin the verb already meant both “to keep together, contain” and “to keep in…
rumore
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin rumor

It is inherited from Latin rūmor (“noise, murmur; talk, rumour”). The early form Old Italian romore is explained by DELI and GDLI from a spoken variant Vulgar Latin *romor, though DELI adds that an…
sacco
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin saccus

It is inherited from Latin saccus (“sack, bag”), borrowed from Ancient Greek σάκκος (sákkos, “coarse cloth of hair; sack”), from a Semitic word: Phoenician *šaqq (“coarse cloth, sack”). Nocentini…
salire
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin salio

It is inherited from Latin saliō (“to jump, leap”). In Italian the sense moved from leaping to climbing; elsewhere the verb kept “to jump” (Romanian sări) or took other senses: French saillir “to…
saltare
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin salto

It is inherited from Latin saltō (“to dance; to leap”), the intensive or frequentative of saliō (“to jump”). In Italian “saltare” took over the meaning of “saliō”, while salire came to mean “to go…
salute
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin salus

It is inherited from Latin salūs (“health; safety, deliverance”), from the accusative salūtem. The Latin noun was used as a wish and a greeting, and was formed beside salvus (“safe, unharmed…
sangue
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin sanguis

It is inherited from Latin sanguis (“blood”), through the accusative ⟨sanguem⟩, which replaced classical ⟨sanguinem⟩ (Wiktionary calls it Late Latin), or through the old neuter sanguen. The word is…
sano
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin sanus

It is inherited from Latin sānus (“healthy, sound”). The word is pan-Romance: French sain, Occitan sa, Catalan sa, Spanish sano, Portuguese são, Sardinian sanu, Friulian san and Romansh saun…
scusare
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin excuso

It is inherited from Latin excūsō (“to excuse, justify; to plead as an excuse”), with the loss of the first syllable. The LEI counts it among the inherited words, like Friulian scusâ and Romansh…
sentire
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin sentio

It is inherited from Latin sentiō (“to perceive, feel; to think”). The word is panromance: French sentir, Occitan sentir, Catalan sentir, Spanish sentir, Portuguese sentir, Sardinian sentire…
sera
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin sera

It is inherited from Late Latin sēra, short for the classical phrase ⟨sera dies⟩ “late day”, the feminine of the adjective Latin sērus (“late”), used as a noun. DEI notes that the Late Latin noun is…
servire
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin servio

It is inherited from Latin serviō (“to be a slave, to serve”), a verb formed from servus (“slave”). The same verb is French servir, Occitan servir, Catalan servir, Spanish servir and Portuguese…

All Italian words inherited from Latin, by century →