Latin words first recorded in the 5th century BC

It is perhaps borrowed from Etruscan. No related forms are known in the other Italic languages. De Vaan finds a loan from Etruscan conceivable: no Etruscan vessel name that could be its source has…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *ad (“to”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ed (“to, near, at”). The accusative construction is thought to continue an old directional case that merged with…

It is a contraction, from Latin aevum (“age, lifetime”) + -tās, of aevitās. Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Italic *aiwotāts, from *aiwom and the suffix *-tāts. The full form aevitās survives in the…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *anti (“before, in front of”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti, the locative singular of the root noun *h₂ent- (“front”). Final ⟨-i⟩ became ⟨-e⟩; the old…

It is probably from Latin ante- (“before”) + testor (“to call to witness”), contracted, the call being made before the case was opened. Leumann, cited by de Vaan, explains it from *antitestor…

It is probably formed from Latin ad- (“to”) + baetō (“to go”), also spelled ⟨bītō⟩: “one who goes to see or hear”. De Vaan notes the matching Umbrian ařputrati (“by the judgement”), which answers to…

It is formed from Latin arbiter (“witness, judge”) + -ium, as adulterium is from adulter. The origin of arbiter is uncertain: de Vaan considers ⟨*ad-biteros⟩, with ⟨ad-⟩ turned to ⟨ar-⟩ before a…

The origin is uncertain. The word resembles Ancient Greek ἀξίνη (axī́nē, “axe”), Old High German acchus (“axe”) and Old English æx (“axe”), but de Vaan notes that /ks/ between vowels is usually kept…

It is from Latin assideō (“to sit by”) + -uus, formed like continuus from contineō. De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of sedeō (“to sit”), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sed-eh₁- (“to…

It is an amplified form of at (“but”). De Vaan suspects that it hides ⟨*at-est⟩ “but is”, contracted to ⟨*atst⟩, and Wiktionary also takes it as from Latin at (“but”) + est (“is”). The Thesaurus…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *auzom (“gold”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwsom or a reduplicated ⟨*h₂é-h₂us-om⟩ “the glowing one”, from the root *h₂ews- (“to dawn, glow”), as in aurōra “dawn”…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *auti (or ⟨*aute⟩), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eu (“away”). Wiktionary gives the PIE form as *h₂ewti (“on the other hand”). The same base, with an added ⟨-m⟩…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kaput (“head”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *káput (“head”). Cognate with Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌸 (haubiþ), Old English hēafod and Old High German houbit, all meaning…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *keiwi- (“society”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱei-uo- (“friendly, intimate, dear”), an adjective of the root Proto-Indo-European *ḱei- (“to lie, settle”)…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *klient- (“who supports, who depends”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ḱli-ent- (“who leans”), originally the active participle of the root aorist…

It is formed from Latin coeō (“to come together”) + -tus; it is a variant of coitus. The verb is con- with eō (“to go”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”).

It is formed from Latin con- + fateor (“to admit, acknowledge”). De Vaan traces fateor to Proto-Italic *fat-ē-, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂-to- (“spoken”), from the root Proto-Indo-European…

1. The preposition is inherited from Proto-Italic *kom, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ḱom (“with”), which took the instrumental case. The older form com is found on the Garigliano bowl, and…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *dapno-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dh₂p-no- (“expense, investment”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *deh₂p- (“to sacrifice, apportion”) of daps…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *dē (“from”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *déh₁ (“towards”), formed from *de (“to, towards”) with an instrumental suffix. The same element is in the suffixes…

It is from Latin dē- (“from, away”) + *fendō (“to strike”), a verb *fendere found only in compounds such as offendō. The OLD derives *fendō from *gʷʰen-d(h)ō, from the root Proto-Indo-European…

It is a compound from Latin dē (“from”) + inde (“from there, then”), like proinde and exinde. The short form dein is common; in Classical poetry ⟨dei-⟩ is one syllable.

Used as an adjective, it is the perfect participle from Latin dīrigō (“to set straight, direct”). That verb is dis- with regō (“to direct”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *reg-e/o- and…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *-þō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put”). De Vaan points out that verbal compounds in ⟨-dō⟩ can continue either this root or Proto-Indo-European…

De Vaan reconstructs inherited from Proto-Italic *dolo- (“trick”). Given doleō (“to feel pain”) and dolor (“pain”), he thinks it cannot be ruled out that it is inherited from Proto-Indo-European…

It is inherited from Old Latin dōnicum (also ⟨dōnique⟩), shortened. The OLD analyses it as ⟨*do-ne-que⟩, comparing Umbrian arnipo (“until”): ⟨do-⟩ “to” as in quandō (compare Ancient Greek -δε (-de)…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *duplos (“double”), equivalent to duo “two” with the suffix -plus (“-fold”). De Vaan derives duo from Proto-Indo-European *du-o-h₁ (“two”). Cognate with Umbrian…

It is probably from ⟨*ē rogō⟩ or ⟨*ē regō⟩ “from the direction of”, with the middle vowel lost; the noun *rogo- (“direction”) belongs to the root of regō and regiō, inherited from…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *eti, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁éti (“still, also, beyond”). De Vaan suggests that the PIE adverb may be an old locative of a root noun from *h₁et- (“go…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *eks, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs (“out”). Before voiced consonants it became ⟨ē⟩ (from ⟨*egz⟩), and in compounds before ⟨f⟩ it appears as ⟨ec-⟩…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *forkti-, continued by Old Latin forctis and the dialectal horctus, which Festus glosses as “good”. Its further origin is disputed, since neither form nor meaning…

It is formed from Latin furia (“rage, fury”) + -ōsus (“full of”). The noun belongs with furō (“to rage”), for which many etymologies have been proposed and none is clearly the best.

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *gʷland(i)-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʷlh₂-n-d(h)-(i)- (“acorn”). It is cognate with Ancient Greek βάλανος (bálanos, “acorn”) and with Armenian and…

It is formed from a demonstrative stem and the deictic particle -ce (“here”), which appears as ⟨-c⟩ in most forms. De Vaan reconstructs the stem as *χo, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰe/o-…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *χorto-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰortos (“enclosure”), a verbal adjective “enclosed” to a root *ǵʰer- “to enclose, grasp”. De Vaan reconstructs two…

It is formed from Latin is, on the base of the pronoun, as tam and quam are on theirs. De Vaan reconstructs ⟨*iām⟩, an accusative singular feminine; since adverbs in ⟨-ām⟩ meant “as far as, with…

It is probably a weakened, unstressed form from Latin agitur (“it is done”), the passive of agō (“to do”), from *agetor, first used in phrases such as ⟨quid igitur?⟩ “what is to be done, then?”…

It is from Latin olle, replacing the Old Latin pronoun (also ollus), and the OLD takes it as an altered form of that word. The change of /o/ to /i/ is usually put down to the influence of iste…

It is formed from Latin in- (“not”) + poena (“penalty”), after Ancient Greek νηποινεί (nēpoineí, “without penalty”); its ending is that of adverbs such as bene and supernē. Lewis & Short treat it as…

1. The local prefix is inherited from Proto-Italic *en- (“in”), the preposition in used in compounds. Like the preposition, it continues Proto-Indo-European *h₁(e)n (“in”); ⟨en⟩ became ⟨in⟩…

It is formed from Latin in- + cantō (“to sing, chant”). Its descendants include Italian incantare, French enchanter and Spanish encantar. Through Old French enchanter it is the source of English…

It is from Latin iniciō (“to throw in or on”) + -tiō. The verb is made from in- and iaciō (“to throw”).

It is from Latin in- (“not”) + testor (“to call to witness, make a will”) + -bilis, or in- and testābilis. The verb comes from testis (“witness”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *tri-sto-…

It is a compound from Latin is, the pronoun, with an element ⟨-pse⟩, whose origin is disputed. The oldest forms inflect the first part: ⟨eapse⟩, ⟨eumpse⟩, ⟨eāpse⟩ (still in Plautus). De Vaan derives…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *is, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)i- (“he, she, it”). The stem in /i/ survives in the nominative, in ⟨id⟩ and in the archaic accusative ⟨im⟩, ⟨em⟩, and…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *i-to-, built on the pronominal stem of is, as in ibi. The OLD derives it from ⟨*itā⟩ with the final vowel shortened as in bene; de Vaan objects that item and…

It is from Latin iūdicātus, the perfect passive participle of iūdicō (“to judge”), used in the neuter as a noun. That verb is from iūdex (“judge”), which de Vaan derives from ⟨*ious-dik-⟩, a…

It is from Latin iūs (“law, right”), its ablative singular, used as an adverb: “by law, by right”. De Vaan derives ⟨iūs⟩ “law” (Old Latin ⟨ious⟩) from an s-stem ⟨*ieu̯os⟩, from Proto-Indo-European…

Its origin is unknown: de Vaan finds no Indo-European etymology, and the OLD and the TLL call it doubtful. De Vaan reports Eichner's reading of the archaic form ⟨louiquiod⟩ on the Forum inscription…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *(d)longo- (“long”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰo- (“long”). Cognate with Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌲𐍃 (laggs, “long”) and the English word long. Related forms of…

The first part is from Latin manus (“hand”); the second is unclear. The OLD and the TLL compare the ⟨-festus⟩ of īnfestus (“hostile”), and the TLL glosses it “caught”, so “caught by the hand”; Lewis…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *manu- (“hand”). De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *mon-u- (“hand”) behind it, but Wiktionary calls the further etymology disputed and lists other proposals…

It is from Latin minor (“smaller, less”), its neuter, used as a noun and as an adverb. De Vaan explains ⟨minor⟩ from the old comparative Proto-Indo-European *meih₁-iōs- (“less”), remodelled in…

The origin is uncertain. De Vaan rules out an adjective in ⟨*-idho-⟩ like acerbus, since that would have given ⟨*moridus⟩, and suggests the suffix *-bʰo- of adjectives of appearance (as in albus)…

The origin is uncertain. The derivative muliebris (from ⟨*mulies-ri-⟩) shows that it was first an s-stem, nominative ⟨*mulies⟩, which became ⟨mulier⟩. Sommer, Walde–Hofmann and Pokorny took it as a…

It is from Latin multus (“much, many”), its neuter, used as a noun and as an adverb. De Vaan derives ⟨multus⟩ from Proto-Italic *molto- and compares Ancient Greek μάλα (mála, “very”), but calls the…

It is the shortened form of neque, itself from Latin ne- (“not”) + -que (“and”). De Vaan notes that the word had two uses: the shortened conjunction “and not”, and a simple “not”, common in the…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *nekʷe (“and not”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *nékʷe (“and not, nor”), from *ne (“not”) and *-kʷe (“and”); the Latin word is ne- + -que. The TLL notes that…

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *nei, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *nei, the negation ne combined with a deictic particle ⟨*-i⟩. Cognate with Oscan nei (“except”), Avestan naē- (“not”), Old…

The OLD treats it as a variant of noxa (“harm, offence”), and Wiktionary takes it either as that or as the noun use of the adjective noxius (“harmful; guilty”). De Vaan allows both: ⟨noxia⟩ can be…