Latin words first recorded in the 3rd century BC

It is formed from Latin tepeō (“to be warm”) + -idus. De Vaan traces ⟨tepeō⟩ to Proto-Italic *tepē- (“to be warm”) and Proto-Indo-European *t(e)p-eh₁- (“to be warm”), cognate with Old Irish té…

It is from Latin tergum (“back”), with a third-declension ending modelled on pectus (“breast”); de Vaan lists it among the derivatives of that noun. Wiktionary allows a blend with ⟨tegus, tegoris⟩…

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek τέρμων (térmōn), adapted to Latin; de Vaan says that it might have been borrowed from Greek. The OLD compares the native termen and terminus, which de Vaan traces…

It is from Latin terreo (“to frighten”) + -bilis. terreō continues Proto-Italic *trozeō, from Proto-Indo-European *troséyeti, from Proto-Indo-European *tres- (“to tremble”).

It has no good Indo-European etymology, and may be a loanword from the same source as Ancient Greek σίφων (síphōn, “tube, siphon”). The original meaning may have been “stalk” or “shin-bone”, since…

It is from Latin tībīcen (“piper”), its feminine. De Vaan analyses ⟨tībīcen⟩ as ⟨*tībio-kan-⟩, “playing on a reed pipe”, from tībia (“pipe”) and canō (“to sing, play”). He finds no good…

The origin is unknown. Wiktionary compares Faliscan 𐌕𐌉𐌕𐌏 (tito), Umbrian 𐌕𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌔 (titis) and South Picene 𐌕𐌉𐌕𐌞𐌌 (titúm), and points out that its distribution, frequent in inscriptions from the former…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *tong-eje- (“to know”). De Vaan suggests that it continues an Indo-European present with ⟨-i̯e-⟩ and the o-grade of the root, Proto-Indo-European *tong-ei(e)- (“to…

It has no good etymology. Walde and Hofmann and Pokorny derived it from tondeō “to shear”, which de Vaan finds semantically senseless, and Lewis and Short suggested tundō “to beat”.

It is from Latin torreō (“to scorch”) (from its root). De Vaan traces ⟨torreō⟩ to Proto-Italic *tors-eje- (“to scorch”), Proto-Indo-European *tors-éye- (“to make dry”), cognate with Sanskrit तृष्यति…

It is from Latin trahō (“to drag, draw”) + -tim, and Lewis and Short derive it from the participle tractus. De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of trahō, which he traces to Proto-Italic…

It is a frequentative from Latin trahō (“to draw, drag”) + -tō.

It is from Latin trāns- (“across”) + nō (“to swim”). De Vaan traces nō to Proto-Italic *(s)nāje/o- (“to swim”) and Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₂- (“to swim, float”), cognate with Old Irish snaïd…

It is from Latin trivius (“of the crossroads”), its feminine, used as a noun; the adjective is formed from trivium (“place where three roads meet”). Wiktionary analyses it as from Latin tri-…

It is from Latin tunica (“tunic”) + -ātus; Wiktionary takes it as the perfect participle of the verb tunicō (“to clothe with a tunic”). The noun tunica is probably of Semitic origin, like Ancient…

It is from Latin turpis (“ugly, foul, shameful”) + -ō. The origin of the adjective is unknown: de Vaan rejects the comparison by Walde and Hofmann and by Pokorny with Sanskrit त्रपते (trapate, “to…

It is from Latin tū (“you”) + -te, with an emphatic particle. De Vaan traces tū to Proto-Italic *tū and to a Proto-Indo-European nominative *ti(H), later replaced by ⟨*tu(H)⟩ outside Anatolian; he…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *ouþ-r-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ówHdʰr̥ (“udder”), an r/n-stem with the /r/ carried into all cases. Cognate with Sanskrit ऊधर् (ū́dhar), Ancient…

It is from Latin ūber (“fertile, rich”) + -tās. De Vaan derives the adjective from the noun ūber (“udder, teat”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *ouþ-r- and Proto-Indo-European *h₁ouHdʰ-r̥…

It is an imitative verb for a sound in /u/. De Vaan notes that ⟨ul-⟩ or ⟨ulul-⟩ may already have existed in Proto-Indo-European, but this cannot be proved. Similar words are Sanskrit उलूक (úlūka…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *omb-n-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃nbʰ-n- (“hub, navel”), either an Italic formation from a root noun or an innovation shared with Germanic. Cognate with Old High…

It is from Latin ūmeō (“to be moist”) + -or. The spelling ⟨hūmor⟩ comes from a false association with humus “earth”. Köbler traces it to Proto-Indo-European *wegʷ- (“wet”).

It is formed from Latin unde (“whence”) and the generalizing particle -que, first “from wherever”.

It is from Latin unda (“wave”) + -ō. De Vaan traces unda to Proto-Italic *udōr and Proto-Indo-European *ud-ōr (“water”), cognate with Umbrian utur (“water”) and Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr, “water”)…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *ongw-e- (“to anoint”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃engʷ-e/o- (“to anoint”). Cognate with Umbrian umtu (“let him anoint”), Sanskrit अनक्ति (anákti…

It is from Latin urvum (“curved part of a plough”). The origin of the noun is disputed: de Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *worw-o- (“plough, furrow”) and, with a query, Proto-Indo-European…

It is from ⟨*ūsūripō⟩, from Latin ūsus (“use”) + rapiō (“to seize”), so “to seize for one's use”. De Vaan traces ⟨ūtor⟩, the base of ⟨ūsus⟩, to Proto-Italic ⟨*oit-e/o-⟩ “to use”, perhaps…

It is formed from Latin uterque (“each of two, both”) + -im, the adverbial ending, an adverbial accusative like multum and the adverbs in -tim. De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of uter (“which…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *wāþe/o-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *weh₂dʰ- (“to advance”). The noun vadum “ford” is from the same root, and a verb derived from it means “to ford”…

Its origin is uncertain. The OLD calls it imitative and compares Ancient Greek ἠχή (ēkhḗ, “sound”). De Vaan notes that Sanskrit वग्नु (vagnú, “sound, call”) may have *g but is derived from another…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *weg-eje/o-, which de Vaan derives from an adjective Proto-Indo-European *weg-o- (“active, awake”), or from a causative *woǵ-éye- “to awaken”, though the e-grade is…

It may mean “wind-like”, from Proto-Italic *wēlo- (“wind”), a noun, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ueh₁-lo- (“wind”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”), as in ventus “wind”. Older…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *wē̆nto-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ueh₁-nt-o- (“wind”), from the present participle of Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”). The short /e/ shows…

It is from Latin verēcundus (“restrained, modest”) + -ē. De Vaan lists verēcundus among the derivatives of vereor (“to show respect, fear”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *wer-ē- (“to be wary”)…

It is the frequentative from Latin vertō (“to turn”) + -tō.

Its origin is uncertain. Its closest match is Ancient Greek ἑστία (hestía, “hearth”), Ionic ἱστίη (histíē), whose initial *w- is shown by the name ϝιστιαυ (wistiau) at Mantinea and Hesychius' γιστία…

The OLD derives it from Latin vestīgium (“footprint”) + -ō, the verbal suffix, but Wiktionary notes that the reverse derivation is equally possible. Lewis and Short call the origin doubtful.

1. The adjective “clothed” is from Latin vestiō (“to clothe, dress”), its past participle. De Vaan derives ⟨vestiō⟩ from vestis (“clothing”). 2. The noun “clothing” is from Latin vestiō (“to…

It is formed from Latin -tās from the stem of vetus (“old”), as in vetustus (“ancient”). De Vaan traces ⟨vetus⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *uet-os- (“year”), “of many years”, cognate with Ancient Greek…

It is from Latin vincō (“to conquer”) + -tor (supine stem ⟨vict-⟩), the agent suffix. Its feminine is victrīx.

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *wijeje/o- (“to plait”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *u̯h₁i-éie- (“to plait”), from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁y- (“to twist, twine”). Cognate with Sanskrit…

It is a verb from Latin vigil (“awake, watchful”). Wiktionary takes vigil back to Proto-Italic *weglis, from Proto-Indo-European *weǵ- (“to be strong, lively”).

It is from Latin villus (“shaggy hair, tuft”) + -ōsus.

It is from Latin vīvō (“to live”), from Proto-Italic *gʷītā, possibly from a derivative Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wo-teh₂, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- (“to live”). Cognate with Ancient Greek…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *wīti-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *uh₁i-ti- (“weaving”), a noun in *-ti- from the root of vieō “to plait”. Cognate with Lithuanian výtis (“withy”) and Old…

It is the frequentative from Latin volō (“to fly”) + -itō. De Vaan reconstructs ⟨volō⟩ as Proto-Italic *gʷelaje-, and following Muller, though Walde and Hofmann reject it, derives it from…

It is from Latin vulnus (“wound”) + -ō, the verb suffix, and is also spelled ⟨volnerō⟩.

The origin is uncertain. The OLD derives it, probably, from vellō (“to pluck, tear”), and de Vaan allows that it could be “the tearing bird”, though the suffix ⟨-ur-⟩ is then surprising; he is not…