Latin words first recorded in the 3rd century BC

It is from Latin contemnō (“to despise, scorn”) + -tim, an adverb in -tim. De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of that verb, which he takes to be older than the simple temnō, a back-formation…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *komterād, the ablative singular feminine of *komteros (“the other of two who meet, opposite”), a comparative of cum (“with”) (old ⟨com⟩) with the suffix seen in…

It belongs with coquō “to cook”, inherited from Proto-Italic *kwokwo- (“a cook”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pokʷos, from Proto-Indo-European *pekʷ- (“to cook”). De Vaan counts the noun…

It is formed from Latin corōna (“garland, crown”). ⟨corōna⟩ comes from Ancient Greek κορώνη (korṓnē, “anything curved; a crown”), according to the OLD, the TLL and Wiktionary.

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek κρατήρ (kratḗr, “mixing bowl”), which became a feminine of the first declension in Latin. Servius and Isidore of Seville note that the Greek word is masculine while…

It is from Latin crepō (“to rattle, creak”) + -tus, an action noun. De Vaan traces crepō to Proto-Italic *krepa- and Proto-Indo-European *ḱrep- (“to rattle, crackle”), an aorist root. He compares…

The origin is doubtful. De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *kup-i-, from Proto-Indo-European *kup-(e)i- (“to tremble, desire”), and compares Umbrian cupra-, an epithet of a goddess, and Sabine ciprus…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kʷōr, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kʷōr (“where?”), from ⟨*kʷor⟩, built on the interrogative stem *kʷo-. Old Latin ⟨quōr⟩ became ⟨cūr⟩ as ⟨*bʰōr⟩ became fūr…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *korse/o- (“to run”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥s-e/o- (“to run”), from the root *ḱers- (“to run”). The perfect cucurrī was assimilated from an older…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *korso- (“chariot”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥s-o- (“running; chariot”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”) of currō. It is a doublet…

It is from Latin custōs + -ia (stem ⟨custōd-⟩ “guard, keeper”).

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *dek-ē- (“fits, is right”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *deḱ-eh₁-, a stative of the root Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- (“to receive, accept”). Cognate with…

It is from Latin decet (“it is fitting”) + -or.

It is a denominative verb from Latin decus (“ornament, honour”), or from decor (“beauty”). De Vaan places it in the family of decet (“it is fitting”), from Proto-Italic *dek-ē- (“fits, is right”)…

It is formed from Latin dē- (“away”) + dō (“to give”). The TLL compares Oscan dadid (“would have handed over”). De Vaan lists it under dō, from Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- (“to give”), noting that in…

It is from Latin dē- (“away from”) + mēns (“mind”).

It is from Latin dē- + mōlior (“to exert oneself, set in motion”). De Vaan derives mōlior from the family of mōlēs, going back to Proto-Italic *mōl-i-je- (“to labour”). The grammarian Nonius already…

It is from Latin dē- + spuō (“to spit”). De Vaan lists it among the compounds of spuō, which goes back to Proto-Italic *spū̆-je/o- and Proto-Indo-European *sp(i)uH-ie/o- (“to spit”), an onomatopoeic…

It is from Latin dē- + terō (“to rub”). De Vaan traces terō to Proto-Italic *tera- and Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub”), comparing Ancient Greek τείρω (teírō, “to oppress, distress, weaken”)…

The origin is uncertain. A link with dīcō “to say, show”, the finger as “pointer”, is attractive and often assumed, from Proto-Indo-European *deyǵ- (“to show”) beside Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ-, but…

It is from Latin dis- + lābor (“to slip, glide”). Wiktionary connects ⟨lābor⟩ with labō (“to totter”) and perhaps Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₂b- (“to hang loosely, be weak”).

It is the old locative of the word for “day”, inherited from Proto-Italic *djowe (“by day”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dyéwi (“during the day”), the locative of *dyḗws (“sky, day”). De…

It is from Latin dīvus (“divine; god”), its feminine, Old Latin ⟨deivā⟩, from Proto-Italic *deiwā (“goddess”), the feminine of *deiwos (“god”), from Proto-Indo-European *deywós (“god”). De Vaan…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *deiwīnos, by surface analysis dīvus “divine, a god” with the suffix -īnus. The OLD compares Oscan deivinais. Inscriptions have ⟨deiv-⟩, ⟨deu-⟩ and ⟨deinus⟩.

It is the adverb from Latin doctus (“learned, skilled”), from the participle of doceō (“to teach”). De Vaan traces doceō to Proto-Italic *dok-eje- and Proto-Indo-European *doḱ-ei̯e/o- (“to have…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *duō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *du-o-h₁ (“two”), an old dual; the final vowel was shortened. Cognate with Umbrian dur (“two”), Old Irish dáu (“two”)…

De Vaan derives it from Proto-Indo-European *h₁egʷʰ- (“to drink”): it is inherited from Proto-Italic *ēxʷrio-, from a noun “drinking”, with /gʷʰr/ becoming /br/ as in febris (“fever”). The root is…

It is from Latin ex- (“out”) + dīcō (“to say”).

It is formed from Latin ex- (“out”) + fugiō (“to flee”). De Vaan derives fugiō from Proto-Italic *fug-i-, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰug-i- (“to flee”), cognate with Ancient Greek φεύγω (pheúgō, “to…

It is formed from Latin ex- (“out of, away from”) + manus (“hand”), literally “hands apart”, the opposite of comminus (“hand to hand”). De Vaan derives the noun from Proto-Italic *man-u- and…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *enim, the accusative singular of *eno- (“that one”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁e-no-. The OLD likewise sees a pronominal stem ⟨*(e)no-⟩, as in nam and…

Its origin is uncertain. Nussbaum proposes Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-lo-, from the root of apiō “to seize”, a banquet as a chance to grab food, which de Vaan calls only a root etymology. He compares…

1. This verb is from Latin ex- + cadō (“to fall”). 2. This verb is from Latin ex- + caedō (“to cut”).

It is from Latin exerceō (“to exercise, train”) + -tus. Isidore explains it as a host named from the exercise of war.

It is formed from Latin expediō (“to free, make ready”) + -tiō. De Vaan explains ⟨-pedīre⟩ in this verb from pedēs (“fetters”), from pēs (“foot”); ⟨pēs⟩ is Proto-Italic *pōd-, from…

It is from Latin fārī (“to speak”) + -bula, the instrument suffix, on the root ⟨fā-⟩ (compare fāma). De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic ⟨*fā-þlo-⟩ “story”, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to…

It is from Latin faciō (“to make”) + -iēs, related to it as speciēs is to speciō, so that it first meant “a make, a form”. Köbler traces ⟨faciō⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, set”). Old…

It is from Latin factus, its neuter, ⟨factus⟩ being the perfect participle of faciō “to do, make”, used as a noun. Faciō is *fak-i-, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁-k- (“to make”), built on…

It is from Latin falsus (“false”), its ablative used as an adverb; ⟨falsus⟩ is the participle of fallō (“to deceive”). De Vaan derives ⟨fallō⟩ from Proto-Italic *fal-s-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *fāmā (“tale”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂-mo/h₂- (“speech”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to speak”) of fārī “to speak”. Cognate with…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *fās, probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéh₂-os (“saying, utterance”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to speak”) of fārī. De Vaan thinks…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *fawē-, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂w-eh₁- (“to be favourable”), a stative verb. De Vaan compares Old Irish báe (“profit”) and Sanskrit भूषति (bhū́ṣati…

It is from Latin ferus (“wild”), its feminine, used as a noun. De Vaan traces ⟨ferus⟩ to Proto-Italic *χwero-, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰweh₁r- (“wild animal”).

According to de Vaan it is inherited from Proto-Italic *fero- (“close by”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰer-o- (“holding, tight”), from the root *dʰer- (“to hold”) of firmus. The OLD calls…

De Vaan takes it as an ablative in ⟨-ē⟩ of an unrecorded superlative ⟨*ferimus⟩ of the adjective, from Latin ferē (“almost, about”), since it has the same meaning as ⟨ferē⟩, rather than as a variant…

It is from Latin fidēs (“faith, trust”) + -ēlis. Fidēs is *fiþ-ē- (“trust”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰidʰ-eh₁- (“faith”), from the root of fīdō “to trust”.

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *figelos, a noun formed from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- (“to knead, form”) with the suffix *-elos; Wiktionary bases this on the archaic spelling ⟨ficolos⟩ found…

It is from Latin fiscus (“basket”). De Vaan finds no etymology for fiscus: a derivation from findō (“to cleave”) is possible in theory but gratuitous.

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *flagmā, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥g-mh₂- (“flame”), from the root of flagrō “to blaze”. The OLD compares Ancient Greek φλέγμα (phlégma, “flame…

The origin is uncertain, with no solid Indo-European cognates. De Vaan suggests that it has a suffix *-t- taken from plectō “to plait” and perhaps nectō “to tie”, and that the root could have been…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *flē(je/o)-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to bleat, cry”). Cognate with Russian блеять (blejatʹ, “to bleat”), and perhaps with Old High German…

It is formed from Latin fluō (“to flow”) + -ius. De Vaan traces ⟨fluō⟩ to Proto-Italic *flowe/o- and Proto-Indo-European *bʰlewH- (“to flow over”), cognate with Ancient Greek φλύω (phlúō, “to boil…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *fonti- (“spring”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰonh₂-ti- (“flowing”), from the root of words for running and flowing. De Vaan finds the meaning…

It is the accusative plural of an old noun ⟨*forā⟩, “door”, so first “to the doors”; forīs (“outside”) is the locative. De Vaan traces it to Proto-Italic *forā- and the root noun Proto-Indo-European…

The origin is uncertain. De Vaan notes that formīca “ant” and formīdō “bogey” point to a change of *m–m to *f–m, so it may go back to *morma. The OLD compares Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “shape…

It is from Latin formīdō (“fear”) + -ōsus, with the diminutive element -ul-. De Vaan reports Leumann's view that it rhymes with perīculōsus (“dangerous”). The origin of formīdō is uncertain: it may…

It is from Latin fortūnō (“to make prosperous”), its participle, from fortūna (“fortune”). De Vaan explains ⟨fortūna⟩ from a stem ⟨*fortu-⟩ “luck” beside fors (“chance”), from Proto-Italic *forti-…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *frāter, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr (“brother”). Pinault analyses the Proto-Indo-European word as *bʰr-éh₂- “group of males borne by the same…

Its origin is uncertain. Schrijver defends *bʰr-eto- “which seethes”, from the root of ferveō “to boil” and fermentum, as the OLD and Lewis and Short do, but de Vaan sees little support for it. The…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *frēto-, probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰr-eh₁-to-, a participle of a lost stative verb “to be holding”, from the root *dʰer- “to hold” of firmus and…