Latin words first recorded in the 3rd century BC

It is from Latin madeō (“to be wet”) + -idus. De Vaan traces madeō to Proto-Italic *mad-ē- and Proto-Indo-European *mh₂d-eh₁- (“to be wet”), and rejects a link with Irish words for “to burst”…

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek μαλακός (malakós, “soft, gentle”). Köbler connects the Greek word with the Indo-European root *mel- (“to grind, crush”).

It is from Latin magis (“more”) + volō (“to wish”), as Cicero already explained; the older form is ⟨māvolō⟩. De Vaan traces ⟨volō⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“to strive after”).

Used as an adjective, it is the perfect passive participle from Latin mānsuēscō (“to tame; grow tame”), literally "accustomed to the hand", from manus (“hand”) and suētus (“accustomed”). De Vaan…

It is probably from Latin manus (“hand”) + habeō (“to have, hold”), with a noun *-hibiae from habeō. De Vaan reconstructs *manu-habiai, perhaps from a singular *manu-habiēs, and mentions Leumann's…

It is from Proto-Indo-European *mel-yōs (“more”), a comparative of a root *mel- “much, strong”. Cognate with Ancient Greek μάλα (mála, “very”) and Ancient Greek μᾶλλον (mâllon, “more”), and the OLD…

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek μέλος (mélos, “song; limb”). Köbler traces it further to Proto-Indo-European *mel- (“limb; to join”).

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *memon-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *me-món- (“has in mind”), the reduplicated perfect of the root *men- “to think”. The imperative mementō continues…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *mn̥ti-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *mn-ti- (“thought, mind”). Wiktionary gives the PIE form as Proto-Indo-European *méntis. Cognate with Sanskrit मति…

It is probably from Latin mēnsus (“measured”), its feminine, ⟨mēnsus⟩ being the past participle of mētior (“to measure”), used as a noun. The participle was formed after ⟨pēnsus⟩ “weighed”, and the…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *mejo-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂mey- (“to exchange”). De Vaan thinks the verb may be denominal, from a noun meaning “movement, passage”; a deverbal…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *merē- (“to earn”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mr-eh₁- (“to earn”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- (“to assign, allot”). De Vaan finds the…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *mesVlā- (“blackbird”). It is cognate with the British Celtic words for the blackbird, Welsh mwyalch and Breton moualc'h, and, with a different shape of the stem…

It is from Proto-Italic *metu-, of unknown origin. Klingenschmitt connects it with Old Irish moth (“astonishment”), which is attractive in meaning, but the sound change is unexplained.

It is from Latin ministrō (“to attend, serve”) + -tor. De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of minor (“smaller”), beside minister (“servant”), which he derives from Proto-Italic *minos-tero-…

It is from Latin moderor (“to regulate, control”) + -tor. moderor is built on the stem of modus (“measure”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *medo- (“measure, judgement”) and…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *medo- (“measure, judgement”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *med-o- (“measure”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to measure, take appropriate…

It is from Proto-Italic *moini- (“protective wall”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *(H)moy-ni- (“construction”), from a root *mey- “to fix, build”. Cognate with Sanskrit मिनोति (minóti, “fixes…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *monti-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *mon-ti- (“protrusion, height”), from the root *men- (“to project, tower”), also seen in ēmineō and mentum “chin”. De…

It is from Latin mordeō (“to bite”). The OLD compares its ending with that of secus (“otherwise”) and varicus, and Wiktionary notes that no other adverb in ⟨-icus⟩ is attested. De Vaan traces the…

It is from Latin mōs (“custom, will”) + gerō (“to carry, conduct”) + -us, from the phrase ⟨mōrem gerere⟩ “to humour someone”; the OLD gives the second part as -ger. De Vaan traces mōs to…

It is formed from Latin mora (“delay”), or, as Schumacher proposed, continues an old iterative ⟨*morH-eye-⟩. De Vaan derives mora from Proto-Italic *morH-ā- (“delay”), from Proto-Indo-European…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *mortwo- (“dead”), the participle of morior “to die”, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *mr̥-wo- (“dead”). De Vaan dates the change of *mr̥two- to *mr̥tuwo- to…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *mōs-, of uncertain origin. De Vaan derives it from Proto-Indo-European *m(e)h₁-ōs (“manner”), from *meh₁- “to measure”, since the meaning is close enough to…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *moinis, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *moy-nós, from *mey- (“to exchange”); mūnus “service” is from the same source. The OLD compares commūnis, immūnis…

It is formed from Latin mustum (“must, new wine”) + -eus. De Vaan finds mustum from Cato on, beside the adjective mustus (“new, fresh”); he notes that mustus could in theory come from a root…

The origin is unclear. It is traditionally connected with muscus “moss” and Proto-Indo-European *mews- (“damp”), so “wet”; de Vaan is sceptical, and notes that a derivation from *mud-s-to-…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *mūto-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *mū̆-to-, from an imitative root: de Vaan explains it as one “who cannot say anything but ⟨mū⟩”. Cognate with Sanskrit…

It is from Latin mūtō + -uus, from mūtō (“to change, exchange”). De Vaan derives both from a noun Proto-Italic *moito- (“object of exchange”), perhaps *h₂moi-to- from a root “to exchange”, or…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *nāso- (“nose”), an o-stem made beside the i-stem nāris (“nostril”). De Vaan traces the stem to Proto-Indo-European *Hneh₂-s- (“nose”), a word often used in the…

1. It is from Latin nāscor (“to be born”), its perfect participle, older ⟨gnātus⟩. De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *gnāto- (“born; son”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₁-tó- (“born”). Cognate with…

Its origin is unclear. Strunk revives the ancient connection with nux “nut”, as if it first meant a nutshell, which de Vaan finds semantically attractive, though the /au/ is unexplained. The TLL…

The origin is uncertain. It is perhaps inherited from Proto-Italic *neptūno- (so de Vaan, with a query), built on an abstract noun Proto-Indo-European *nebʰ-tu- (“moisture”). Rix derived the name…

It is from Latin nē (“not”) + quam (“how”), a phrase “in no way” used as an adjective. The comparative ⟨nēquior⟩ and the superlative ⟨nēquissimus⟩ were formed as if from a stem ⟨*nēquo-⟩. The older…

De Vaan takes it for a recent adjective from Latin nimis (“too much”), the adverb; the OLD compares that word. For the origin of nimis, explained by Meiser as ⟨*ne meis⟩ “not too little”, see that…

It is probably from Latin ne- + sī (“if”); the old forms are ⟨nesi⟩ (Plautus, cited by Festus), ⟨nesei⟩, ⟨nisei⟩ and ⟨noisi⟩ in early inscriptions. Wiktionary analyses it as nī (“not”) + ⟨sī⟩.

It is formed from Latin nox (“night”) + -urnus, on the model of diurnus (“daily”). De Vaan cites Pinault's view that it, like noctū (“by night”), rests on an old locative ⟨*nokʷt-eu⟩. nox goes back…

It is probably from Latin noenum, the Old Latin form, which de Vaan explains as from Latin ne- (“not”) + ūnum (“one”), “not one”, from *ne-oinom. The long /oː/ can only be explained by a contraction…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *newn̥ (“nine”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥ (“nine”). The ending ⟨-em⟩ for expected ⟨-en⟩ is due to septem and decem, and the older form survives…

It is from Proto-Italic *(s)nūbe/o-, of uncertain origin. The long ō of cōnūbium “marriage” is taken to prove an initial *sn-. It has been compared with Old Church Slavonic съноубити (snubiti, “to…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *num (“now”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *nu (“now”), first meaning “now”, as it still does in etiamnum; nunc (from ⟨*num-ce⟩) and nūper belong to the same…

It is from Latin numerus (“number”) + -ō, the verb suffix.

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *nomeso-, from Proto-Indo-European *nem- (“to assign, allot”), probably a thematized form of the s-stem seen in nemus “grove”. De Vaan explains the /o/ by analogy…

It is from Latin num + -ce, the old ⟨num⟩ “now” (kept in ⟨etiamnum⟩) with the deictic particle ⟨-ce⟩ “here”. The base goes back to Proto-Indo-European *nu (“now”), extended as ⟨*nu-n⟩; the final…

It probably goes back to *nountio-, as the old spellings ⟨nountius⟩ and ⟨nontius⟩ show, but the further etymology is unclear. It has been derived from a root *neuH- “to cry”, as in Sanskrit नवते…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *knuk-. The word has cognates only in Celtic and Germanic, with different suffixes, and de Vaan, like Wiktionary, thinks it may be a loanword from a…

The OLD and the TLL analyse it as from Latin ob (“against”) + dō (“to give”). De Vaan points out that in compounds in ⟨-dere⟩ this verb merged with a verb “to put”, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-…

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ὀψώνιον (opsṓnion), which Wiktionary relates to ὀψωνέω (opsōnéō, “to buy provisions”), from ὄψον (ópson, “cooked food, relish”) and ὠνέομαι (ōnéomai, “to buy”).

Used as an adjective, it is the perfect passive participle from Latin obstinō (“to set one's mind on”). De Vaan explains obstinō and dēstinō as prefixed verbs built on the old nasal present of stō…

It is from Latin ob- + terō (“to rub”). De Vaan traces terō to Proto-Italic *tera- and Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub”), with an athematic present *treh₁-i- behind the ⟨ī⟩ of the perfect…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *ōd- (“to hate”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃e-h₃od- (“to hate”), a reduplicated perfect of the root *h₃ed-. The perfect had a stative or resultative…

The origin is unknown. Wiktionary suggests that it may be Celtic, mentioning proposed links with Welsh yfflon (“pieces, bits”) and oddf (“knot, bulb”). Festus says that the ancients used the word…

It is from Latin onus (“load”) + -ārius. The noun onus goes back to Proto-Italic *onos and Proto-Indo-European *h₃en-os (“load”). Cognate with Sanskrit अनस् (ánas-, “heavy cart”).

It is from Latin onus (“load, burden”) + -tus. De Vaan explains it as a derivative in ⟨-to-⟩ of the s-stem, ⟨*onos-to-⟩. He traces ⟨onus⟩ to Proto-Italic *ones- and Proto-Indo-European *h₃en-os…

It is from Latin opus (“work”), its neuter plural ⟨opera⟩ reinterpreted as a collective feminine singular. The TLL compares ⟨ōra⟩ “edge” beside ⟨ōra⟩, the plural of ōs “mouth”.

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *op-wer-i(e)- (“to cover up”), from ob- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂uer-i(e)- (“to cover”). It is the counterpart of aperiō “to open”, from *ap-wer-. Cognate with…

The origin is uncertain. It was traditionally connected with optō “to choose”, but Schrijver finds the link between “to believe” and “to choose” weak. Vine argues that the Praenestine spelling with…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *op-wort-(ē-), formed from *op “towards” and the root Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn”) of vertō. Walde and Hofmann took it as a causative *uort-eie-, but de…

It is usually analysed as ob with a form from Proto-Italic *pedo- (“ground, place”), from Proto-Indo-European *ped-o- (“trodden, place”), the root of pēs “foot”. Cognate with Umbrian peřum…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *opes- (“work”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep-os (“work”), a neuter s-stem from the root Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- (“to work”), which also gives ops…