Latin words first recorded in the 3rd century BC

1. The verb “to fly through” is from Latin per- + volō (“to fly”). De Vaan traces volō (“to fly”) to Proto-Italic *gʷela-je/o- and Proto-Indo-European *gʷelh₁-ie/o- (“to raise the arm, throw”)…

The origin is uncertain. De Vaan rejects Walde's ⟨*per-sitis⟩ “great thirst” and mentions Bartholomae's analysis of Avestan kapastiš, the name of an illness, as a pejorative prefix with ⟨*pesti-⟩…

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek φιλόλογος (philólogos, “fond of learning; a scholar”), a compound of φίλος (phílos, “dear; friend”) and λόγος (lógos, “word, speech, reason”). The spelling ⟨fil-⟩…

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek φιλοσοφία (philosophía, “love of wisdom”), from φίλος (phílos, “loving”) and σοφία (sophía, “wisdom”). Inscriptions have ⟨filosofia⟩. Cicero translates it as…

It is formed from Latin pius (“dutiful, pious”) + -tās. Wiktionary reconstructs Proto-Italic *pwījotāts. De Vaan derives pius from Proto-Italic *pwījo-, Proto-Indo-European *puH-io- (“purifying”).

1. The verb meaning “fix firmly” is from Latin pīla (“squared pillar, pier”), with the verbal suffix -ō. De Vaan calls the origin of the noun unknown, but compares the Oscan verb ⟨ehpeílatasset⟩…

Its origin is uncertain. It may share a base with Ancient Greek πίναξ (pínax, “board, plank”) or come from the same root as Ancient Greek πίτυς (pítus, “pine”) and Albanian pishë (“pine”), perhaps a…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *pwījo-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *puH-yo- (“purifying”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *pewH- (“to purify”) of pūrus “pure”. Cognate with Oscan…

It is from Latin plēbēs, the Old Latin form, ultimately from the root Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”) of plēnus “full”, though the exact development is unclear. Schrijver derives it from the…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *plēnos, from an e-grade variant of Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós (“full”); the zero grade would have given *plānus. It belongs to the root of pleō “to fill”, as in…

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek Πλούτων (Ploútōn). In Greek this is the god of riches, that is, of the stores of grain buried in the earth, a derivative of πλοῦτος (ploûtos, “riches, wealth”)…

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ποίημα (poíēma, “thing made, poem”), from ποιέω (poiéō, “to make”). Old forms include the genitive plural ⟨poēmatōrum⟩, as in Afranius and Varro, and the dative…

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ποιητής (poiētḗs, “maker, poet”), from ποιεῖν (poieîn, “to make”). An inscription has the Greek nominative ⟨poētēs⟩.

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *pont-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pónt-h₁-s (“road”), from Proto-Indo-European *pent- (“path”); the sense moved from “road” to “bridge”. Cognate with…

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek πόντος (póntos, “sea”). Köbler and Etymonline connect the Greek word with Proto-Indo-European *pent- (“to tread, go”), the root of pōns (“bridge”).

It is from Latin pōpulus (“poplar”) + -eus. De Vaan finds no etymology for pōpulus; Ancient Greek πτελέα (pteléa, “elm”) shares /p/ and /l/ with it, but no regular correspondence can be found.

It is from *prai-emiom, a compound from Latin prae (“before”) + emō (“to take, buy”), “what one has got before or better than others”. Varro derived it from praeda “booty”.

It is from Latin prae- (“before, ahead”) + petō (“to make for, seek”), from a form ⟨*prae-pets⟩. The TLL notes that the origin of this term of augural language was already obscure to the Romans…

It is from Latin praestō (“to stand out, excel”), its present participle used as an adjective. The verb is prae (“before”) with stō (“to stand”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *sta-ē-je/o-…

It is from Latin prīmus (“first”) + -ceps (“taking”), from capiō “to take”: one who takes the first place. Compare the Old English cognate of prīmus, Old English fruma (“chief, prince”).

It is from Latin prīnceps (“first, foremost”) + -ium. Isidore applies it to the Son of God, because all things are from him and nothing before him.

It is from *pris-kos, supposedly earlier *prius-cus, from Latin prior (“former”), on the stem, compare prīstinus; ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *préy (“before”). The OLD compares Ancient Greek…

It is from Latin prīvus (“single, own, apart”) + -ō, the verbal suffix, from Proto-Italic *preiwos. Gaffiot explains its first sense as “to set apart”.

It is formed from Latin prō (“before”) + avus (“grandfather”). The TLL compares the parallel formations Ancient Greek πρόπαππος (própappos, “great-grandfather”) and Sanskrit प्रपितामह…

It is from Latin prō- + *cērus, with a second part *k(r)ēro- “growing”, from the root of crēscō “to grow”, so “having grown up high”; de Vaan thinks a dissimilated *prō-krēros possible. Schrijver…

It is formed from Latin prō- (“forth”) + dō (“to give”). The TLL calls it an old compound and compares Ancient Greek προδίδωμι (prodídōmi, “to give up, betray”) and Sanskrit प्रदा (pradā, “to give…

It is from Latin prō- (“forth, publicly”) + fateor (“to acknowledge”), as Varro noted. The Tabula Heracleensis has old forms ⟨profitērei⟩ and ⟨profitēminō⟩.

It is formed from Latin prō- (“forward, far”) + fundus (“bottom”). The ancient grammarians already took it as a possessive compound, “whose bottom is far away”, so that it was first said of the sea…

It is from Latin prōgignō (“to beget”) + -iēs, from prō- and the root of gignō, Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget”). The TLL compares Sanskrit प्रजा (prajā́, “offspring”).

It is from Latin prō- (“forward”) + iaciō (“to throw”). It is also spelled ⟨prōiiciō⟩ or ⟨prōiciō⟩, the usual form in inscriptions and manuscripts. Isidore explains it as ⟨porrō abicere⟩ “to throw…

It is from Latin prōiciō (“to throw forth, cast out”) + -tō, a frequentative verb. The TLL notes that the intensive or iterative force of the suffix is not apparent in its uses.

It is from Latin pro- + nepōs (“grandson”). The TLL notes that it matches the Rigveda's Sanskrit प्रणपात् (praṇapāt, “great-grandson”) in form and meaning, so that both may have one origin, and…

It is from Latin prōspiciō (“to look forward, see far”) + -tus.

It is formed from Latin prō- + sum (“to be”). Forms such as ⟨prōdesse⟩ show the variant ⟨prōd-⟩ of the prefix, which de Vaan takes to be a newer form built after ⟨red-⟩; he traces sum to…

It is a contracted form from Latin prōvidēns (“foreseeing”), the present participle of prōvideō (“to foresee”). The TLL explains that as the participle widened in meaning and became an adjective in…

It is from Latin pūbēs (“adulthood; the adult population”) + -ēscō. For the noun, de Vaan thinks the compound impūbēs (“not adult”) is the older form, from which it was back-formed, and reports…

It is from Latin pugnus (“fist”) + -ō, the verb suffix, not from pugna “battle”, as the TLL argues, since its first sense is to strike with the fists. Lewis and Short relate it to a root ⟨pug-⟩ “to…

It is from Latin pellō (“to push, strike”) + -tus, an action noun. De Vaan traces ⟨pellō⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *pl̥-n(e)-h₂- (“to approach”), with a shift from “to bring closer” to “to push…

It is from Latin quadrō (“to make square”), its perfect participle.

It is from Latin quadri- (“four-”) + iugus (“yoked, combined”). De Vaan lists it with biiugus (“yoked in pairs”) among the numeral compounds of iugus, an o-stem derivative of the root of iungō (“to…

It is an old form of quaerō (“to seek, ask”), and de Vaan treats them together. For him the verb is inherited from Proto-Italic *kwai-s-e/o-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂-i- (“to…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kʷālis, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂-li-s, from a feminine or collective form of the interrogative and relative stem Proto-Indo-European *kʷo- with an…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kʷānto- (“how great”), from ⟨*kʷeh₂-nt-⟩, built on the feminine stem of the relative pronoun (see quam) with the suffix of tantus. Wiktionary gives two analyses: a…

It is from Latin quārtus (“fourth”), whose neuter accusative serves as the adverb. The noun is the neuter of the same adjective used substantively.

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kʷerkʷu/o-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *perkʷ-o/u- (“kind of oak”), with the Italo-Celtic assimilation of *p … kʷ to *kʷ … kʷ. Cognate with Old High German…

It is formed from Latin rapiō (“to snatch, seize”) + -āx. De Vaan traces ⟨rapiō⟩ to Proto-Italic *rap-i- (“to seize”) and Proto-Indo-European *h1rp-i- (“to seize”), cognate with Ancient Greek…

It is from Latin recipiō (“to take back, receive”) + -tō, a frequentative formed on the participle receptus. That verb is a compound of capiō (“to take”), which Wiktionary traces to…

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

It is from Latin re- (“back”) + -cumbō (“to lie down”), a compound of a nasal present not found on its own, beside cubō (“to lie”). De Vaan traces -cumbō to Proto-Italic *kumbe/o- (“to lie down”)…

It is formed from Latin re- (“back”) + fugiō (“to flee”). De Vaan traces fugiō to Proto-Italic *fugi- and Proto-Indo-European *bʰug-i- (“to flee”), cognate with Ancient Greek φεύγω (pheúgō, “to…

It is from Latin regō (“to rule, direct”) + -men. A syncopated ⟨regmen⟩ is also found. Festus notes that poets use it for ⟨regimentum⟩, citing Ennius.

It is from Latin re- + linquō (“to leave”). Linquō is *linkʷ-, from the PIE nasal present Proto-Indo-European *li-n-kʷ- (“to leave”).

It is the adverb from Latin repēns (“sudden”). The origin of that adjective is unclear: Walde and Hofmann derived it from ⟨*wrep-⟩, from Proto-Indo-European *werp- (“to twist”), “with a sudden…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *rēpō (“to creep”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁p- (“to creep”). Cognate with Lithuanian rėplióti (“to creep”), Latvian rãpt (“to creep”) and perhaps…

It is formed from Latin re- (“again, back”) + quiēscō (“to rest”). De Vaan explains ⟨quiēscō⟩ as a new present built beside the perfect ⟨quiēvī⟩, which continues the root aorist Proto-Indo-European…

It is from Latin re- + quaerō (“to seek, ask”). A variant ⟨requae-⟩ occurs in a manuscript of the Old Latin Sirach.

It is from Latin re- + spīrō (“to breathe”). De Vaan thinks spīrō may imitate the sound of breathing; it has no direct cognates.

It is formed from Latin re- (“back, again”) + statuō (“to set up”). The verb statuō is made from the noun status, which de Vaan derives from Proto-Italic *statu- (“setting up”), from…

It is from Latin re- + vellō (“to pluck, tear”). De Vaan traces ⟨vellō⟩ to Proto-Italic *weln-e/o- and a nasal present of Proto-Indo-European *uelh3- (“to strike”), cognate with Hittite u̯alh- (“to…

It is from Latin re- (“back, again”) + vinciō (“to bind, fasten”).