Latin words from Greek
7 Latin words with Greek in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
aenigma
It is borrowed from Ancient Greek αἴνιγμα (aínigma, “dark saying, riddle”), from αἰνίσσομαι (ainíssomai, “to speak in riddles”), from αἶνος (aînos, “tale, saying”), a word of unknown origin.
basilica
It is borrowed from Ancient Greek βασιλική (basilikḗ), short for βασιλικὴ στοά (basilikḕ stoá, “royal hall”), the feminine of βασιλικός (basilikós, “royal”), from βασιλεύς (basileús, “king”). At…
corona
It is borrowed from Ancient Greek κορώνη (korṓnē, “anything curved or hooked; a kind of crown”). Watkins and Wiktionary derive the Greek word from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”)…
idiota
It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs, “private person, layman”), from ἴδιος (ídios, “one's own, private”). Isidore of Seville explains it as an unskilled person, and the glossaries…
nausea
It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ναυσίη (nausíē, “seasickness”), the Ionic form of a word meaning literally “ship-sickness”, from ναῦς (naûs, “ship”). The TLL explains the Latin e for Greek i as a…
sycophanta
It is borrowed from Ancient Greek συκοφάντης (sukophántēs, “false accuser, slanderer”). The Greek word means literally “one who shows the fig”, from σῦκον (sûkon, “fig”) and φαίνω (phaínō, “to…
tragoedia
It is borrowed from Ancient Greek τραγῳδία (tragōidía, “tragedy”), literally “goat song”, from τράγος (trágos, “he-goat”) and ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “song”). Beekes takes trágos as “gnawer” and the compound as…