Italian words from Latin
930 Italian words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
a
It is inherited from Latin ad (“to, towards; near”). Before a vowel the form “ad” is kept, and the preposition is the same as the prefix a- that doubles the following consonant (“accanto”…
abito
It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin habitus (“bearing, condition, dress”), a noun formed on habeō (“to have, hold”) in its sense “to be in a state, to behave”. In Medieval Latin the noun was…
accadere
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *accadēre, which took the place of classical Latin accidere (“to happen, to fall upon”). The Vulgar Latin verb was remade on *cadēre, the form of cadere (“to fall”)…
accesso
It is borrowed from Latin accessus (“approach, access”), a learned word. The Latin noun, which had a medical sense too, was formed from accēdō (“to approach”) with the suffix -tus. The verb is ad-…
accettare
It is borrowed from Latin acceptāre (“to receive, accept”), a learned word. The Latin verb is a frequentative of accipiō (“to receive”), formed on its past participle acceptus. Nocentini and…
acqua
It is inherited from Latin ăqua (“water”). The doubled consonant is old: the Appendix Probi already corrects a Late Latin pronunciation with -cqu-. The LEI divides the outcomes into three groups…
adatto
Most dictionaries see it as borrowed from Medieval Latin adaptus (“suited”), formed from ad- and aptus (“fit, suitable”). The LEI notes that the Latin adjective is recorded in Gaul in the 7th…
adesso
The origin is uncertain. The usual explanation, which DELI calls doubtful but which the LEI accepts as the most likely of many proposals, is inherited from Vulgar Latin *addessum, a contraction of…
adorare
It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin adōrō (“to address, plead with, pray to; to worship”), formed from ōrō (“to plead, pray”) with ad-. In Church Latin the verb rendered Ancient Greek…
adulto
It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin adultus (“grown up, fully grown”), the past participle of adolēscō (“to grow up”). The Latin verb is an inchoative formed with ad- on alō (“to nourish”)…
aereo
1. The adjective is a learned word, borrowed from Latin āerius (“of the air, airy”), from Ancient Greek ἀέριος (aérios, “high in the air”), a derivative of ἀήρ (aḗr, “air”). Nocentini, Devoto–Oli…
affrontare
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *affrontāre, a verb formed from Latin frōns (“forehead, front”) with the prefix ad- (“to, towards”), literally “to put one's forehead towards”. DELI calls it a…
agente
It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin agēns (“doing, acting”), the present participle of agō (“to do, drive, act”) (compare agenda and agire). The LEI and DEI say that the word came into Italian…
aiutare
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…
aiuto
It is inherited from Late Latin adiūtus (“help”), an action noun from adiuvō (“to help”), whose past participle has the same form. GRADIT relates it to the frequentative adiūtō, the source of…
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…
albero
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…
alcuno
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *alicūnus, a compound formed in speech from Latin aliquis (“someone”) and ūnus (“one”). Strengthening ⟨aliquis⟩ with ⟨unus⟩ was already a way of speaking in Cicero…
allora
It is inherited from Latin ad illam hōram (“at that hour”), a phrase of ad (“to, at”), ille (“that”) and hōra (“hour”). Nocentini starts instead from the Late Latin ablative phrase illā hōrā (“in…
altezza
It is inherited from Late Latin altitia (“height”), a derivative of Latin altus (“high”) with the suffix -itia. The Late Latin word, recorded in the veterinary treatise of Chiron, took the place of…
alto
It is inherited from Latin altus (“high; deep”). The same word is French haut, Occitan aut, Catalan alt, Spanish alto, Portuguese alto and Sardinian altu, and with a prefix Romanian înalt. The…
altro
It is inherited from Latin alter (“the other (of two)”), from the accusative alterum. In classical Latin the word meant “the other of two”, while alius (“another, different”) meant “another” among…
alzare
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *altiāre (“to raise”), formed from Latin altus (“high”). The LEI derives the verb firmly from the comparative adverb altius (“higher”), as GDLI and DEI also do, and…
amare
It is inherited from Latin amō (“to love”). The verb is found in nearly all the Romance languages, though not in Romanian: French aimer (older Old French amer, from the 9th-century “Sequence of…
amico
It is inherited from Latin amīcus (“friend; friendly”), from amō (“to love”). Nocentini and the LEI count it among the words inherited from Latin, while DELI calls it a learned word. It continues in…
ammettere
DELI, Nocentini and DEI treat it as a learned word, borrowed from Latin admittere (“to let in, admit; to grant”), with its stressed vowel taken from the native mettere. The Latin verb is a compound…
amo
It is inherited from Latin hāmus (“hook, fish-hook”). The old plural àmora leads DEI to suppose a neuter plural Vulgar Latin *hamora, as in the Calabrian dialects. The same word is Old French ain…
amore
It is inherited from Latin amor (“love”), from the accusative ⟨amorem⟩. The Latin noun is formed from amō (“to love”) with the suffix -or, as clāmor is from clāmō. The word is continued in nearly…
anche
The origin is uncertain. The starting point of the LEI and Meyer-Lübke is inherited from Vulgar Latin *anque, the form that best explains the outcomes in every Romance language; the LEI takes it…
ancora
1. The adverb is inherited from Vulgar Latin *hancōra, from the phrase Latin hanc (“this”) hōram (“hour”), “at this hour”, according to DELI, GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti. Wiktionary…
andare
It is inherited from Medieval Latin andāre, recorded in Latin documents of Tuscany in 801 and of southern Italy in 820, and its origin is much disputed. Prati dates the southern record, in the Codex…
anello
It is inherited from Latin ānellus (“little ring”), a diminutive of ānulus (“ring”), itself a diminutive of ānus (“ring, circle”). The later diminutive took over the main sense of the older word, a…
angelo
It is inherited from Late Latin angelus (“angel”), borrowed from Ancient Greek ἄγγελος (ángelos, “messenger, envoy”). The Greek translators of the Old Testament used “ángelos” to render the Hebrew…
angolo
It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin angulus (“angle, corner”). The LEI describes Old Italian anguolo and the modern word as continuing the Latin word with a learned or half-learned sound…
anima
DELI and Nocentini treat it as a learned word, borrowed from Latin anima (“breath; life; soul”). The LEI notes that the Latin word lives on in every Romance language and that popular and learned…
animale
The noun is borrowed from Latin animal (“living being, animal”) and the adjective animālis (“living, animate”), both from anima (“breath, soul”). The noun is the adjective's neuter animāle used as a…
anno
It is inherited from Latin annus (“year”), from the accusative ⟨annum⟩. The word survives in every Romance language: French an, Occitan an, Catalan any, Spanish año, Portuguese ano, Sardinian annu…
anzi
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…
aperto
It is inherited from Latin apertus (“open; uncovered”), the past participle of aperiō (“to open”). The Latin verb survives in Spanish abrir, Portuguese abrir and Friulian avrî, while French ouvrir…
appartenere
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *appartenēre, a Vulgar Latin verb formed with ad- on Latin pars (“part”) (genitive ⟨partis⟩). Most sources start instead from Late Latin appertinēre (“to belong…
apprezzare
It is inherited from Late Latin appretiāre (“to value, appraise”), a verb formed in Late Latin on Latin pretium (“price, value”) with the prefix ad-. The Late Latin verb is first found in…
aprire
It is inherited from Latin aperiō (“to open, uncover”). Sabatini–Coletti notes the loss of the vowel before the stress. The Latin verb survives in Friulian avrî, Romansh avrir, Spanish abrir and…
aria
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…
arma
It is inherited from Late Latin arma (“weapon”), a feminine singular that grew out of the classical neuter plural ⟨arma, -ōrum⟩ “arms, equipment”. The singular is recorded in Latin only from the 6th…
arrabbiato
It is the past participle of arrabbiare (“to catch rabies; to get angry”), used as an adjective. The verb is formed from Italian a- + rabbia (“rabies; rage”), with the prefix ⟨a-⟩ that turns a noun…
arrestare
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *arrestāre (“to stop”), formed on Latin restō (“to stay behind, stop”) with the reinforcing prefix ad-. The LEI holds that the verb must belong to Late Latin…
arrivare
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *arripāre (“to come to the shore”), formed from ad (“to”) and Latin rīpa (“riverbank”) with a verb ending. The LEI considers it probably a Late Latin form, attested…
arte
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…
ascoltare
It is inherited from Latin ascultāre, a form of auscultō (“to listen”) recorded from the 2nd century, in the grammarian Flavius Caper. DELI explains the loss of the first ⟨u⟩ by dissimilation, as in…
aspettare
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…
aspetto
It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin aspectus (“look, sight; appearance”), from aspiciō (“to look at”), from ad- and speciō (“to look”). The LEI notes that Italian continues the Latin senses…
assicurare
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *assēcūrāre, formed from sēcūrus (“safe, secure”) with the prefix ad- and a verb ending. The verb is found in all the Romance languages except Romanian: Romansh…
assurdo
It is borrowed from Latin absurdus (“out of tune; senseless”), a learned word. The earliest form is Old Italian assordo, in a translation of Cicero of the early 14th century; “assurdo” became usual…
attento
It is inherited from Latin attentus (“attentive, intent”), the past participle of attendō (“to direct one's mind to”), from ad- and tendō (“to stretch”). DELI classes it, with attenzione, as a…
attenzione
It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin attentiō (“application of the mind, attention”), from attendō (“to turn the mind to”) with the suffix -tiō. Zingarelli derives it from the participle…
attimo
It is inherited from Latin atomus (“atom; moment”), in its popular development, from Ancient Greek ἄτομος (átomos, “indivisible”), and so a doublet of the learned atomo. The sense “moment” already…
attività
It is borrowed from Late Latin āctīvitās, a learned word, from āctīvus (“active”) with the suffix -tās. In classical Latin the noun had only a grammatical sense, the active voice of the verb (in…
atto
1. The act is borrowed from Latin āctus (“a doing, an action; act of a play”), the action noun of agō (“to drive, to do”). Nocentini and DELI start from the neuter āctum (“a thing done”), the past…
avanti
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…
avere
It is inherited from Latin habeō (“to have, hold”). The verb is found in every Romance language: French avoir, Occitan aver, Catalan aver, Spanish haber, Portuguese haver, Sardinian àere, Romanian…