Italian words first recorded in the 12th century

1. The action is a learned word, borrowed from Latin actio (“a doing; legal action”), from the supine of agō (“to do, drive”). The LEI notes that the Latin word was taken over as a legal term in…

1. The kiss is inherited from Latin bāsium (“kiss”). The Latin word first appears, with the verb basiāre, in Catullus, who was from Verona, and that is why it is often thought to be a Celtic loan…

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *baneum, the popular form of Latin balneum (“bath; bathing place”), which had lost the rare cluster ⟨ln⟩. The form ⟨baneum⟩ is written on a wall at Pompeii and is…

It is a deverbal noun of ballare (“to dance”). The same formation is French bal, Old Occitan bal and Catalan balla (“dance party”). The verb is Late Latin ballāre, first found in Augustine. DELI and…

1. The bench is a Germanic loanword. It is borrowed from Lombardic *banka (“bench”) for Devoto–Oli, Gabrielli and Prati, while DELI and Sabatini–Coletti speak of a Germanic collective of *bank…

It is the third person singular present of bastare (“to be enough”), “it is enough”, used as an exclamation. Devoto–Oli calls it the imperative, and Zingarelli sees both the impersonal and the…

It is borrowed from Old French besoing (“need”), from Frankish *bisunni (“care, concern”), according to Nocentini and GRADIT. DELI and the LEI start instead from Medieval Latin bisonium (“need…

1. The bag is inherited from Late Latin bursa (late 4th century), written ⟨byrsa⟩ in learned spelling, from Ancient Greek βύρσα (búrsa, “hide, leather; wineskin”), an obscure technical word. Already…

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…

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…

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *brusiāre, a verb whose origin is among the most disputed in Romance etymology. Some connect it with Latin ūrō (“to burn”) (past participle ūstum), others with a…

It is inherited from Late Latin camisia, a Late Latin word of uncertain origin. Jerome (died 420) is the first to use it, and he presents it as a foreign word for a linen garment worn by soldiers…

It is inherited from Late Latin campānia (“open country, plain”), a noun made from the plural of the adjective campāneus (“of the fields, of the plain”), which comes from Latin campus (“level…

It is borrowed from Late Latin campiō (“fighter, champion”), recorded in glosses and Lombard documents. The Late Latin word is taken from Frankish *kampijō (“fighter in the field”), itself formed…

It is inherited from Latin campus (“plain, open country; field”). The word is found in all the Romance languages: French champ, Occitan camp, Catalan camp, Spanish campo, Portuguese campo, Sardinian…

It is inherited from Latin canis (“dog”), from the accusative ⟨canem⟩. The word is panromance: French chien, Occitan ca, Catalan ca (in Majorca), Old Spanish can, Portuguese cão, Sardinian cane…

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…

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *capitāre (“to come to a head, to end up”), a verb not recorded in classical Latin, formed on Latin caput (“head”) (genitive “capitis”). The sense would have moved…

It is inherited from Latin castellum (“fortified settlement, fort”), a diminutive of castrum (“fortified place”). The learned word castro continues the base noun. The Latin word lives on in all the…

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…

It is inherited from Latin cēna (“the main meal of the day”). In classical Rome it was the main meal, taken after work in the afternoon; in late antiquity it became the evening meal, as Festus…

It is a noun formed from the verb cercare “to look for”. The verb continues Late Latin circāre (“to go around, encircle”), from circum (“around”) and circus (“circle”). The LEI follows Tilander in…

It is inherited from Latin clārus (“loud; bright, clear; famous”). The word is pan-Romance: French clair, Occitan clar, Catalan clar, Sardinian giaru and Romanian chiar (“just, exactly”), which…

It is a derivative from Italian colpo + -ire, a verb formed on the noun. The noun colpo continues Late Latin colpus, recorded in the Lex Salica in the 6th century, from Latin colaphus (“blow with…

It is formed from Italian completo (“complete”) + -mente. The old form Old Italian complitamente comes from Old Italian complito “completed”; the TLIO treats “completo” and “compito” as one word…

It continues inherited from Vulgar Latin comprendere (“to grasp”), the contracted form of classical Latin comprehendō (“to seize; to include; to understand”). DELI, Zingarelli and GDLI instead call…

It is borrowed from Latin concēdō (“to withdraw, give way; to grant, admit”), a compound of con- and cēdō (“to go away, yield”). The Latin verb already had the senses “to grant” and “to admit”. Its…

It is borrowed from Latin cōnfūsus (“mingled; disordered; dismayed”), the past participle of cōnfundō (“to pour together, to mix, to confuse”). DELI, DEI and the LEI call it learned, and it serves…

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin cōnsīderāre (“to examine, to observe”). The Latin verb is formed on sīdus (“star, constellation”) with the prefix con-, so that it first meant “to observe…

It is borrowed from Latin conversātiō (“being together, association, way of life”), a learned word. The Latin noun was formed from conversor (“to keep company with, live with”), which is con- with…

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *eccum sīc, a strengthened form of Latin sīc (“so, thus”) with eccum (“here he is, behold”). By surface analysis it is ecco + sì. Latin ⟨eccum⟩ was a contraction of…

It is borrowed from Latin creō (“to beget, produce; to elect”), a learned word according to DELI. The old form Old Italian criare has a more popular look, and Wiktionary suggests that the modern…

It is borrowed from Old French cosin (modern French cousin), recorded in French from 1080, which goes back through changes not fully explained to Latin cōnsobrīnus (“son of one's mother's sister…

The adjective is the past participle of dare; it is inherited from Latin datus (“given”), the participle of dō (“to give”). The noun, “a datum”, is a learned word from the Latin participle used as a…

It is inherited from Late Latin dē abante (“from in front”), a Late Latin combination of dē (“from”) and abante (“in front; before”). According to the LEI, the adverb and preposition abante, formed…

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…

It is the past participle of disperare (“to despair”), used as an adjective and noun. The verb is a learned word, borrowed from Latin dēspērāre (“to give up hope”), from dē- and spērō (“to hope”)…

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *destrugere, inherited from Latin dēstruō (“to pull down, demolish”), a compound of dē- and struō (“to pile up, build”). The new infinitive was formed from the…

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *dēventāre, an intensive or iterative verb formed on Latin dēveniō (“to come down, arrive”). The Vulgar Latin verb is not recorded: the LEI reconstructs it from…

It is borrowed from Latin dīvortium (“separation; fork of a road; divorce”), a learned word. The Latin noun comes from dīvertō (“to turn in another direction, separate”), in its archaic form…

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin documentum (“lesson, example; proof”), from doceō (“to teach”) with the suffix -mentum: properly “that which serves to teach”. De Vaan traces the Latin verb…

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…

It is inherited from Latin dolor (“pain, grief”) (accusative “dolōrem”), from doleō (“to hurt, feel pain”) and the suffix -or. DELI classes it as a learned word, while Nocentini and DEI treat it as…

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…

It is inherited from Latin duplus (“double, twice as much”), formed from duo (“two”) and the suffix -plus of such adjectives. Sabatini–Coletti calls it the popular form beside the learned doublet…

It is a learned word: the adjective is borrowed from Latin dubius (“wavering, uncertain”), and the noun is dubium (“doubt”), the neuter of the adjective used as a noun. The doubled ⟨bb⟩ is the…

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *dunquam, a blend of Late Latin dunc (“then”) with Latin unquam (“ever”). The Late Latin adverb, found in inscriptions of the imperial period, is itself explained…

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…

It continues the phrase inherited from Latin inter ambōs (“between both”). The phrase is made of Latin inter (“between”) and ambō (“both”). DEI and GDLI note that it survives in Italian, Occitan…

It is the feminine past participle of entrare “to enter”, used as a noun (from Italian entrare + -ata). Medieval Latin already had intrāta. The verb continues Latin intrō (“to go in”), from intrā…

It is inherited from Latin famēs (“hunger; famine”). In early Latin the noun belonged to the fifth declension and later moved to the third. The same word is French faim, Occitan fam, Catalan fam…

It is inherited from Latin familia (“the slaves of a household; household”), from famulus (“servant”). The cluster /lj/ became /ʎ/, as in other popular words. DEI calls the word popular throughout…

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin fastīdium (“nausea, disgust, aversion”). The Latin noun is usually explained as fastus (“pride, disdain”) crossed with taedium (“weariness, boredom”); the…

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin favor (“goodwill, support”), from faveō (“to be favourably inclined”). The same Latin noun gave French faveur, Spanish favor and Portuguese favor. The…

It is inherited from Latin firmāre (“to make firm, strengthen, confirm”), from firmus (“firm, stable”). Sabatini–Coletti and Wiktionary treat it as the popular form beside the learned firmare (“to…

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…

It is inherited from Latin fenĕstra (“window; opening in a wall”). The word is panromance: French fenêtre, Occitan fenestra, Catalan finestra, Old Spanish hiniestra, Portuguese fresta (“skylight”)…

1. The preposition is inherited from Latin fīne (“at the limit”), the ablative of the noun “limit, end”, used in prepositional phrases such as ⟨fine a(d)⟩ and ⟨in fine a(d)⟩. Latin itself used fīne…

It is inherited from Latin forsit (“perhaps”), a fusion of fors (“chance, luck”) and sit (“may it be”), literally “be it chance”. Devoto describes how an independent clause became an adverbial…

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…