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 5).

sette
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin septem

It is inherited from Latin septem (“seven”). The cluster ⟨pt⟩ became ⟨tt⟩ and the final ⟨m⟩ was lost. The numeral is found throughout Romance: French sept, Occitan set, Catalan set, Spanish siete…
sostenere
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin sustineo

It is inherited from Latin sustineō (“to hold up, to support; to endure”). Battisti and Alessio call the verb pan-Romance, but not Romanian: the same word is French soutenir, Occitan sostener…
sperare
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin spero

It is inherited from Latin spērō (“to hope, look forward to”), a verb formed from the noun spēs (“hope”). The Latin verb lives on in the western Romance languages: French espérer, Occitan esperar…
spiegare
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin explico

It is inherited from Latin explicō (“to unfold, unroll; to set out, explain”), from ex- (“out”) and plicō (“to fold”). Nocentini calls it the popular outcome of the Latin verb, beside the learned…
stella
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin stella

It is inherited from Latin stēlla (“star”). The word is panromance: French étoile, Occitan estela, Catalan estela, Spanish estrella, Sardinian isteddu, Romanian stea, Dalmatian stala and Romansh…
suonare
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin sono

It is inherited from Latin sonō (“to sound, resound; to cry, sing”), a verb formed from sonus (“sound”). The diphthong ⟨uo⟩ of the stressed forms (“suòno” “I play”) has spread to the unstressed…
tale
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin talis

It is inherited from Latin tālis (“of such a kind”), from the accusative “tālem”. The Latin word was in wide use, often paired with quālis (“of what kind”) and alliterating with tantus (“so great”)…
tavola
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin tabula

It is inherited from Latin tabula (“board, plank”). Most of its other meanings, many of them already Latin, grew out of that basic sense. The same word is French table (the source of table), Occitan…
tempo
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin tempus

It is inherited from Latin tempus (“time, period”), a neuter noun that was reinterpreted as masculine. The word is panromance: French temps, Occitan temps, Catalan temps, Spanish tiempo, Portuguese…
tentare
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin tempto

It is inherited from Latin temptō (“to touch, to feel; to test; to attack”), in its late and popular form without /p/. DELI, Sabatini–Coletti and GDLI explain that form by confusion with tentō (“to…
tesoro
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin thesaurus

It is inherited from Latin thēsaurus (“treasure; storehouse”), borrowed from Ancient Greek θησαυρός (thēsaurós, “store, storehouse; treasure”). DEI calls it a semi-learned word. In it the Latin…
tetto
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin tectum

It is inherited from Latin tēctum (“roof; house”), properly “something covered”, the past participle of tegō (“to cover”) used as a noun. The same word is French toit, Occitan tech, Spanish techo…
uscire
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin exeo

It is inherited from Latin exeō (“to go out”), from ex- (“out”) and eō (“to go”). The initial /u/ is due to the influence of uscio (“door”), a word of different origin but close in meaning. The…
voce
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin vox

It is inherited from Latin vōx (“voice”), from the accusative ⟨vōcem⟩. The Latin word is panromance: French voix, Occitan votz, Catalan veu, Spanish voz, Portuguese voz, Sardinian boghe and…
volontà
205 BC–184 BC

from Latin voluntas

It is inherited from Latin voluntās (“will, wish; good will”), from the accusative voluntātem. DEI counts it among the words found across the Romance languages, though not in Romanian, while…
ala
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin ala

It is inherited from Latin āla (“wing; armpit”). The Latin word is continued in every Romance language except Romanian: French aile, Occitan ala, Catalan ala, Spanish ala, Portuguese ala, Romansh…
aria
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin aer

It is inherited from Latin āera (“air”), the accusative of āēr in its Greek form, taken from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (aḗr, “air”). The Latin accusative copied ἀέρα (aéra) and is already found in Cicero…
cavo
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin cavus

1. The adjective “hollow” is inherited from Latin cavus (“hollow, concave”), and the noun sense continues its neuter cavum (“hollow, hole”). The same word is Occitan cau and Catalan cau (“rabbit…
consiglio
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin consilium

It is inherited from Latin cōnsilium (“deliberation; council; advice”), from cōnsulō (“to consult, deliberate”). Meyer-Lübke lists it among the regular Romance outcomes of the Latin noun, while…
fico
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin ficus

1. The fig is inherited from Latin fīcus (“fig tree; fig”), through the form fīcum. Latin used the feminine noun for both the tree and the fruit, and a neuter took shape in Late Latin for the fruit…
fiume
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin flumen

It is inherited from Latin flūmen (“flowing water, river”). DELI and GRADIT write the Latin word with its final consonant in brackets, since the Italian comes from a form without it. The Latin noun…
fronte
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin frons

It is inherited from Latin frons (“forehead, brow; front”). GRADIT gives the Latin source as a variant with /u/ beside the usual form with short /o/. The GDLI alone calls it a learned word. The word…
governatore
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin gubernator

It continues inherited from Latin gubernātor (“helmsman, pilot”), the agent noun of gubernō (“to steer; to govern”), and stands beside governare. Tommaseo treats it as the verbal noun of that verb…
intendere
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin intendo

It is inherited from Latin intendō (“to stretch towards; to direct; to aim at, pay attention”), formed from tendō (“to stretch”) with in- (“towards”). The verb is found in all the Romance languages…
ladro
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin latro

It is inherited from Latin latro (“highwayman, robber”), continued in the nominative (or, as Bonfante held, the vocative) form, not in the accusative, which gave the doublet ladrone. The voiced /d/…
lavoro
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin labor

DELI, Nocentini and GRADIT take it as inherited from Latin labor (“toil, effort, work”), from the accusative ⟨labōrem⟩, with a change of declension. DEI, Devoto, Devoto–Oli, Sabatini–Coletti…
lottare
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin luctor

It is inherited from Latin luctor (“to wrestle, to struggle”), a verb first of athletics. The word is pan-Romance: French lutter, Occitan luchar, Catalan lluitar, Spanish luchar, Portuguese luitar…
male
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin male

It is inherited from Latin male (“badly”), the adverb of malus (“bad”). The noun “evil; pain, illness” is the same adverb used as a noun, a change that happened in all Romance languages. Devoto–Oli…
mandare
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin mando

It is inherited from Latin mandō (“to entrust; to commission, order”). The Latin verb is usually analysed as a contraction of *man(um) dare, equivalent to the phrase in manum dare (“to put into…
muro
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin murus

It is inherited from Latin mūrus (“wall, city wall”). The word is panromance: French mur, Occitan mur, Catalan mur, Spanish muro, Portuguese muro, Sardinian muru, Dalmatian mor and Aromanian mur…
noi
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin nos

It is inherited from Latin nōs (“we, us”). DELI quotes Rohlfs on the final vowel: Latin final ⟨-s⟩ was lost in Italy only in the course of the Middle Ages and in some words is represented by ⟨-i⟩…
pieno
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin plenus

It is inherited from Latin plēnus (“full”). The word is pan-Romance: French plein, Occitan ple, Catalan ple, Spanish lleno, Portuguese cheio, Sardinian prenu and Romanian plin, and Dalmatian plain…
ponte
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin pons

It is inherited from Latin pōns (“bridge”), from the accusative “pontem”. The same word is French pont, Occitan pont, Catalan pont, Spanish puente, Portuguese ponte and Romanian punte, and also…
quale
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin qualis

It is inherited from Latin quālis (“of what kind”), from the accusative ⟨quālem⟩. The word is pan-Romance: French quel, Occitan cal, Spanish cual, Portuguese qual, Sardinian cale and Romanian care…
quanto
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin quantus

1. It is inherited from Latin quantus (“how great, how much”), with the adverb from its neuter quantum. The Latin word is formed from quam (“how, as”), which belongs with quis (“who”) (see chi), and…
rosso
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin russus

It is inherited from Latin russus (“red, red-haired”). In Italy this word won out over classical rubeus, from the same root, as the ordinary name of the colour, while its derivative russeus, already…
scala
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin scala

It is inherited from Latin scālae (“ladder; stairs”), a plural that classical Latin used with either singular or plural force and that passed to the singular in Late Latin. Quintilian condemned the…
sonno
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin somnus

It is inherited from Latin somnus (“sleep”). The word is pan-Romance: French somme, Occitan som, Catalan son, Spanish sueño, Logudorese sonnu, Romanian somn and Dalmatian samno. In Piedmontese…
suono
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin sonus

It is inherited from Latin sonus (“sound, noise; voice”), derived from sonō (“to sound, resound”). The same word is French son, Occitan so, Catalan so, Portuguese som and Old Spanish sueno (modern…
tra
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin intra

It is inherited from Latin intrā (“within, inside”), with the loss of the first syllable; Wiktionary adds the influence of inter (“between”). The southern dialects keep the fuller form, as Sicilian…
trattare
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin tracto

It is inherited from Latin tractāre (“to drag; to handle; to manage; to discuss”), the frequentative or intensive of trahō (“to drag, pull”), formed on its past participle tractus. Many Italian…
uguale
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin aequalis

It is inherited from Latin aequālis (“equal, even, level”), from aequus (“level, even, equal”), formed as sociālis from socius. The old outcome was Old Italian iguale, later made eguale to bring it…
urlare
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin ululo

It is inherited from Latin ululāre (“to howl”), through a Vulgar Latin *urulāre in which the first ⟨l⟩ became ⟨r⟩ by dissimilation. The unstressed vowel then dropped, as Devoto explains. The…
vento
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin ventus

It is inherited from Latin ventus (“wind”). The word is found in all the Romance languages: French vent, Occitan vent, Catalan vent, Spanish viento, Portuguese vento, Sardinian bentu, Romanian vânt…
vestito
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin vestitus

The noun is inherited from Latin vestītus (“clothing, dress”), the action noun of vestiō (“to clothe”). It is found also in Friulian vistit, Occitan vestit, Catalan vestit, Spanish vestido and…
vita
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin vita

It is inherited from Latin vīta (“life”), a derivative of vīvus (“alive”) or of the root of vīvō (“to live”). Devoto explains it as an abstract noun from a form ⟨*vivitā⟩, made with a suffix ⟨-tā⟩…
vite
204 BC–169 BC

from Latin vitis

1. The vine is inherited from Latin vītis (“vine; tendril; climbing plant”), continued from the accusative ⟨vītem⟩. The word is panromance: Old Occitan vid, Spanish vid, Portuguese vide, Sardinian…

All Italian words inherited from Latin, by century →