Latin words first recorded in the 3rd century BC

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *moltā, a word of the Italic languages. Cognate with Oscan moltam (“fine”) and Umbrian motar (“of a fine”). De Vaan lists it under multus (“much”): a fine would be…

It is a contraction from Latin multus (“much, many”) + modus (“way, manner”), from the phrase multīs modīs (“in many ways”); the OLD compares omnimodīs. Cicero notes that the Romans of old often…

1. The adverb is from Latin multus (“much”), its ablative singular neuter, an ablative of degree, “by much”. De Vaan derives ⟨multus⟩ from Proto-Italic *molto- and compares Ancient Greek μάλα (mála…

It is from Latin mundus (“clean, neat”) + -ē. De Vaan considers deriving the adjective from Proto-Indo-European *meud- (“to rejoice”) through *mudno-, although he finds the semantics not compelling.

It is from Latin mundus (“clean, neat”) + -itia. De Vaan tentatively derives mundus from Proto-Indo-European *mud-no- (“happy”), from the root *meud- “to rejoice”, but finds the meaning not…

It is from Latin mūnus (“gift; duty”), a denominative verb. The noun goes back to Proto-Italic *moinos- (“duty, obligation, task”), and perhaps to Proto-Indo-European *h₂moi-no- (“exchange”), which…

The OLD analyses it as from Latin mūnia (“duties”) + -ficus, Lewis and Short and Wiktionary as made from mūnus (“duty, gift”) and faciō (“to do, make”). De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of…

It is from Latin commūnis (“common, shared”) and immūnis (“exempt”), a back-formation from those adjectives. De Vaan also allows a back-formation from ⟨commūnis⟩, while Wiktionary notes evidence…

It is a diminutive, from Latin mūnus (“duty, gift”) + -culum. De Vaan traces mūnus to Proto-Italic *moinos- (“duty, obligation, task”) and tentatively to Proto-Indo-European *h₂moi-no- (“exchange”)…

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek μύραινα (múraina), a Greek word whose further origin Köbler finds unclear. The Romans knew it was foreign: Varro lists it among the fish names taken from abroad…

It is from Latin murmur (“murmur”) + -ō. De Vaan, however, notes that murmur is attested later than the verb and may be derived from it; he traces the family to Proto-Italic *mo/ur-mo/ur-ā- and…

1. The myrrh is borrowed from Ancient Greek μύρρα (múrrhā, “myrrh”), which Wiktionary calls of Semitic origin. Saalfeld connects it with σμύρνα (smúrna). The grammarian Priscian notes that the old…

The OLD and the TLL take it as borrowed from Ancient Greek μύζω (múzō, “to mutter, moan”), adapted into Latin, following Leumann. Wiktionary instead derives it from an imitative root…

It is formed from Latin mūtō (“to change, exchange”) + -tiō. De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of mūtuus (“on loan, reciprocal”): both words presuppose a noun ⟨*mūto-⟩ “(object of) change”…

It is from Latin mūtus (“dumb, speechless”) + -iō, with an expressive doubling of the ⟨t⟩, according to de Vaan, who takes mūtus as “one who can say nothing but mū”, so that the verb covers both “to…

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek νάρδος (nárdos). Köbler takes the Greek word to be a loan from a Semitic language and compares Sanskrit नलद (nálada-, “nard”); Etymonline traces it ultimately to…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *nās- (“nose”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *Hneh₂-s- (“nose”), made an i-stem in Latin beside the o-stem nāsus (“nose”); the ⟨r⟩ is from ⟨s⟩ between vowels…

The origin is uncertain. The OLD suggests that it may be Etruscan, and Köbler calls its origin unknown. Lewis and Short derive it from nāsus (“nose”), explaining it as a watering pot with a large…

The origin is uncertain. De Vaan's reconstruction is inherited from Proto-Italic *nati- (perhaps with an initial /g/ or /s/), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *nHt-. The word is usually compared…

It is formed from Latin nō (“to swim”) + -tō, the frequentative suffix. De Vaan explains it as built on a participle ⟨*natos⟩ of that verb, from Proto-Italic *(s)nato- (“bathed”) and…

It is from Latin nausea (“seasickness”) + -ō, The noun is from Ancient Greek ναυσία (nausía), from ναῦς (naûs, “ship”). The TLL compares the Greek verb ναυσιάω (nausiáō).

The origin is disputed. The OLD and Saalfeld take it as borrowed from Ancient Greek ναυτία (nautía, “seasickness, nausea”), which Lewis and Short and Georges explain as a form of ναυσία (nausía)…

It is formed from Latin nāvis (“ship”) + agō (“to drive”): “to drive a ship”. De Vaan traces ⟨nāvis⟩ to Proto-Italic *nau- and Proto-Indo-European *neh₂-u- (“ship”), cognate with Ancient Greek ναῦς…

It is from Latin nec (“and not”) + -dum (“still, for a while”). The TLL, following de Vaan and Dunkel, traces the particle -dum to Proto-Indo-European *duh₂- (“far, long”), the root of dūdum (“some…

It is from Latin nec (“and not, not”) + -ne. De Vaan derives ⟨neque⟩ from Proto-Italic *ne-kʷe (“and not”), from Proto-Indo-European *ne (“not”), like Oscan nep (“not”) and Gothic 𐌽𐌹𐌷 (nih, “and…

It is from Latin ne- + fāstus (“lawful, (of days) open for business”). The TLL notes that one would expect ⟨in-fāstus⟩ and explains the ⟨ne-⟩ by the influence of nefās (“offence against divine…

It is from Latin negō (“to deny, refuse”) + -itō, a frequentative verb. The TLL describes its force as intensive: to deny insistently.

It is from Latin neglegēns + -ia, from the participle of neglegō (“to neglect”). De Vaan explains the verb as a fairly recent compound of legō (“to gather”), with the sense passing from “gather” to…

It is from Latin negōtium (“business”) + -ōsus. De Vaan reports Benveniste's view that negōtium was from the start a compound of ⟨nec⟩ “not” and ōtium (“leisure”), meaning “non-leisure”, perhaps…

It is a compound from Latin neg- + ōtium (“leisure”), the negative (as in neque) and the noun: “lack of leisure”. Benveniste argued that it was a calque of Ancient Greek ἀσχολία (askholía, “lack of…

It ends in the particle -pe found in quippe. The OLD takes the first part as ⟨*nem⟩, from the pronoun root of nam (“for”), and Wiktionary and Lewis & Short derive it from nam; the TLL, following…

The OLD forms it from Latin nē + quisquam (“anyone”), the negative and the feminine ablative singular, Lewis and Short from ⟨nec⟩ and ⟨quāquam⟩. The TLL analyses ⟨quā⟩ as an old instrumental of the…

It is formed from Latin nē (“not”) + quīquam, an old ablative of quisquam (“anyone, anything”): “by nothing”; compare nēquāquam (“by no means”). De Vaan explains such ablatives in ⟨quī⟩ as an old…

It is from Latin nēquam (“worthless, bad”) + -ter. De Vaan lists both words among the forms built on the relative and interrogative stem of quī.

It is formed from Latin nēquam (“worthless, bad”) + -itia. The TLL explains both forms of the noun as regular formations on a stem ⟨*nēquo-⟩.

It is the shortened form from Latin nēve, nē (“not, lest”) with -ve (“or”). De Vaan derives both from Proto-Italic *nē-we, with the loss of final /e/, and takes nē as a stressed form of…

De Vaan tentatively reconstructs it as inherited from Proto-Italic *knei/īd-os- and Proto-Indo-European *knei(H)d-os- (“itch”), assuming that a strong smell was named from a verb “to itch, sting”…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *nizdo-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *nisdo- (“nest”), a compound of *ni (“down”) and the root *sd- (“to sit”), “where one sits down”. Cognate with Sanskrit…

It is the shortened form from Latin nihilum, from ⟨*ne hīlom⟩ “not a bit”, from the negative ne- and hīlum (“a tiny amount”). The shortening took place in unstressed position; the short /i/ of the…

It is formed from Latin ne- + hīlum (“a trifle”), “not a bit”, from ⟨*ne hīlom⟩. nihil developed from it in unstressed position. Wiktionary notes that both the lack of elision of the first vowel and…

It is from Latin nimium (“too much”), its ablative, ⟨nimium⟩ being the neuter of nimius (“excessive”), used as an adverb. That adjective belongs to nimis (“too much”), which de Vaan explains from…

It is a fusion from Latin nī (“if not, unless”) + mīrum (“a wonder”), the neuter of mīrus (“wonderful”): literally “unless it is a wonder”. De Vaan traces ⟨nī⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *nei, ⟨ne⟩…

It is from Latin nimius (“excessive”), its neuter, used as a noun and as an adverb. De Vaan takes nimius for a recent adjective made from the adverb nimis (“too much”); following Meiser, he explains…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *sniks, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *snígʷʰs (“snow”), a root noun from *sneygʷʰ- (“to snow”). The nominative ⟨nix⟩ continues ⟨*sniks⟩, and the genitive…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *(s)nāje/o- (“to swim”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₂- (“to swim, float”). Cognate with Old Irish snaïd (“to swim”), Sanskrit स्नाति (snā́ti…

It is formed from Latin nōbilis (“well known, noble”) + -tās. nōbilis, archaic ⟨gnōbilis⟩, is made from nōscō (“to get to know”) with ⟨-bilis⟩; de Vaan derives nōscō from Proto-Italic *gnōske- and…

It is the ablative or locative of ⟨*noctus⟩, a fourth-declension form beside nox (“night”). Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Italic *noktowe and Proto-Indo-European *nokʷt-ew (“by night”), cognate with…

It is from Latin ne (“not”) + ūnus (“one”): an Old Latin ⟨*ne-oinom⟩ “not one”, with the old neuter of the numeral. The same phrase, contracted, gave nōn, which is often regarded as derived from it…

It is contracted from ⟨*ne volō⟩, formed from Latin ne- + volō (“to want”), “not to want”. De Vaan derives the verb from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“to choose, want”), comparing Sanskrit वृणीते…

It is a univerbation from Latin nōn (“not”) + dum.

It is formed from Latin nōn (“not”) + -ne (“interrogative particle”).

It is from Latin nōscō (“to get to know”) + -itō, a frequentative. De Vaan traces nōscō, older ⟨gnōscō⟩, to Proto-Italic *gnōske- and Proto-Indo-European *ǵnh3-sḱé- (“to know”), and compares…

It is from Latin novus (“new”) + -ē, the adverb of the adjective. The adjective novus goes back to Proto-Italic *nowo- and Proto-Indo-European *néwos (“new, young”). Cognate with Hittite nēwa-…

It is a derivative from Latin novus (“new”), “the new one”, with an unclear suffix. The OLD suggests an extended stem ⟨*nouer-⟩, comparing Ancient Greek νεαρός (nearós, “young”), and Wiktionary…

It is from Latin novus (“new”) + -īcius. That adjective goes back to Proto-Italic *nowo- and Proto-Indo-European *neuo- (“new, young”).

It is a compound from Latin nunc (“now”) + diēs (“day”), with the element ⟨nu-⟩ and the old form ⟨dius⟩, so “it is now the … day”. Wiktionary traces the first part to Proto-Indo-European *nu…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *nowoþo- (“naked”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *nogʷ- (“naked”), from a root adjective that took different suffixes in the different languages. De Vaan…

It is from Latin nūgātor (“trifler, jester”) + -ius, while the OLD analyses it as nūgor (“to trifle”) with the suffix ⟨-tōrius⟩. Both go back to nūgae (“trifles, nonsense”), which de Vaan traces to…

It is from Latin nūgae (“trifles, jokes”) + -or. For nūgae de Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *knūg- and finds no Indo-European etymology; since words for trifles are often made from words for nuts…

It is from Latin numerō (“to count, pay out”), used as an adjective: the past participle of that verb. The verb is formed from numerus (“number”), which de Vaan takes to be probably a thematized…