Portuguese words from Latin
2023 Portuguese words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 10).
destro
It is inherited from Latin dexter (“right, on the right; skilful”), written Old Galician-Portuguese destro in the oldest texts. Nascentes notes that the syncopated form dextra already appears in a…
destruir
It is inherited from Latin dēstruō (“to pull down, demolish”), written Old Galician-Portuguese destroir and Old Galician-Portuguese destruir in the oldest texts. Nascentes considers it semi-learned…
deter
It is inherited from Latin dētineō (“to hold back, detain”), written Old Galician-Portuguese deteer in the oldest texts. Nascentes traces it through a Latin form with the stem vowel of the simple…
deus
It is inherited from Latin deus (“god”), written Old Galician-Portuguese deus in the oldest texts. Houaiss calls it a semi-learned word, kept close to the Latin by the Church. Unusually, it…
devedor
It is inherited from Latin dēbitor (“debtor”), written Old Galician-Portuguese devedor and Old Galician-Portuguese devidor in the oldest texts. Nascentes calls it a semi-learned development of the…
dever
It is inherited from Latin dēbeō (“to owe; to be bound to”), written Old Galician-Portuguese dever, Old Galician-Portuguese deuer and, in 1275, Old Galician-Portuguese diver. The noun “duty” is the…
devesa
It is inherited from Late Latin dēfēnsa (“defended (land)”), short for a phrase with terra (“land”). The Latin word is the noun use of the feminine of dēfēnsus (“defended, protected”), the past…
dez
It is inherited from Latin decem (“ten”), written Old Galician-Portuguese dez in the oldest texts. The same Latin word is Galician dez, Spanish diez, Catalan deu, Occitan detz, French dix, Italian…
dezembro
It is inherited from Latin December (“the tenth month”), the name of the tenth month of the old Roman year, which began in March; the noun for “month” was understood with it. Wiktionary and…
dia
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *dia (“day”), written Old Galician-Portuguese dia in the oldest texts, a reshaping of the classical Latin diēs (“day”). Nascentes explains that some nouns of the…
diabo
It is inherited from Late Latin diabolus (“devil”), the word of the Church, which is from Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos, “slanderer; one who sets apart”). Wiktionary considers it a semi-learned…
diamante
Wiktionary takes it as borrowed from Late Latin diamas (“diamond”). Houaiss, Aurélio and the DLP call the Latin source a Vulgar Latin form, and DELPo thinks the word came through French. The Latin…
diante
It is inherited from Late Latin inante (“in front, forward”) with the preposition dē (“from”) put before it, first as Old Galician-Portuguese denante. The Late Latin word joins Latin in (“in”) and…
difícil
It is borrowed from Latin difficilis (“hard to do, troublesome”), a learned word of the 15th century. Nascentes calls it semi-learned. The Latin adjective is formed from the prefix dis- and facilis…
dificuldade
It is borrowed from Latin difficultās (“difficulty”), first recorded in the 14th century. Nascentes calls it semi-learned, a word that came through the learned language but was partly adapted. The…
digno
It is borrowed from Latin dignus (“worthy, fitting”), a learned word. Nascentes notes that the learned form was restored over the older Old Galician-Portuguese dino. Spanish had the same history…
dinheiro
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *dīnārius, an alteration of Latin dēnārius (“a Roman silver coin worth ten asses”). The Latin word is formed from dēnī (“ten each”), from decem (“ten”), with the…
direito
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *dērēctus, the popular form of Latin dīrēctus (“straight; directed”), the past participle of dīrigō (“to direct, guide”), and was written Old Galician-Portuguese…
discernir
It is borrowed from Latin discernō (“to separate, set apart; to distinguish”). Nascentes calls it semi-learned. The same Latin word gives Galician discernir, Spanish discernir, Catalan discernir…
disparar
It is inherited from Latin disparō (“to divide, separate”), recorded in the 15th century both in its modern form and as Old Galician-Portuguese desparar. The Latin verb is formed from dis- and parō…
disponível
It is borrowed from Medieval Latin dispōnibilis (“that can be disposed of”), a word recorded in 1367, perhaps through French disponible, according to Houaiss. Wiktionary also has a learned borrowing…
distinguir
It is borrowed from Latin distinguō (“to separate, divide; to distinguish”). Nascentes calls it semi-learned. The Latin verb is formed from dis- (“apart”) and the verb stinguō. De Vaan lists it…
divergir
It is borrowed from Medieval Latin *dīvergō, a form that Houaiss and Cunha set up beside the Latin dēvergō (“to incline, sink”). Wiktionary takes it from Latin dīvergō (“to bend to different…
divertir
It is borrowed from Latin dīvertō (“to turn aside, go different ways; to part; to differ”), with a change of conjugation. Nascentes calls it semi-learned and explains the sense: whoever amuses…
dívida
It is inherited from Latin dēbita, the neuter plural of dēbitum (“debt”), taken as a feminine singular, and in the oldest texts it is written Old Galician-Portuguese deveda and Old…
divórcio
It is borrowed from Latin dīvortium (“separation; divorce”), a learned word. Nascentes calls it semi-learned. The Latin noun is formed from dīvertō (“to go off, separate”). The OLD notes that the…
dizer
It is inherited from Latin dīcō (“to say, speak”), written Old Galician-Portuguese dizer in the oldest texts. The Portuguese verb keeps the Latin third conjugation in -er, as do most Romance…
doar
It is inherited from Latin dōnō (“to present, give”), recorded as Old Galician-Portuguese dõar in 1255 and spelt without the tilde from 1279. The Latin verb was formed from dōnum (“gift, present”)…
dobrar
It is inherited from Late Latin duplō (“to double”), from duplus (“double”). Cunha derives the adjective from duo (“two”). The same Latin verb is Galician dobrar, Spanish doblar, Catalan doblar…
dobro
It is inherited from Latin duplus (“double, twice as large”), written Old Galician-Portuguese dobro, Old Galician-Portuguese dubro and Old Galician-Portuguese doblo in the medieval texts. It is the…
doce
It is inherited from Latin dulcis (“sweet; pleasant”), written Old Galician-Portuguese doce and doze in the oldest texts. Nascentes, after Carolina Michaëlis, explains the vowel by the vocalisation…
doer
It is inherited from Latin doleō (“to be in pain, to hurt”), recorded as Old Galician-Portuguese doer in the 13th century. Beside Galician doer, which agrees with it, the other Romance languages…
dogmático
It is borrowed from Latin dogmaticus (“relating to the doctrines of the philosophers”), which is from Ancient Greek δογματικός (dogmatikós, “doctrinal, founded on principles”). Houaiss presents it…
dois
It is inherited from Latin duo (“two”), from the masculine accusative duōs, written Old Galician-Portuguese dous in the oldest texts. The modern form is a later variant of the old one. Nascentes…
doloroso
It is borrowed from Late Latin dolōrōsus (“painful”), a learned word. The Latin adjective is formed from dolor (“pain, grief”) with -ōsus. It displaced the inherited Old Galician-Portuguese dooroso…
dom
1. The word for the gift is inherited from Latin dōnum (“gift, present”), from the verb dō (“to give”), and is written Old Galician-Portuguese don in the 13th century. The neuter plural of the Latin…
domar
It is inherited from Latin domō (“to tame, subdue”), written Old Galician-Portuguese domar in the oldest texts. The same Latin verb is Galician domar, Spanish domar, Catalan domar and Italian…
domingo
It is inherited from Late Latin diēs Dominicus (“the Lord's day”), shortened to the adjective dominicus (“of the lord”), which took on the sense of the whole phrase. The oldest texts already write…
dona
It is inherited from Late Latin domna (“lady”), the shortened form of Latin domina (“mistress of a household, lady”), written Old Galician-Portuguese dona in the oldest texts. The Latin noun is the…
dono
It is inherited from Late Latin domnus, the syncopated form of dominus (“master of a house, owner, lord”), written Old Galician-Portuguese dono in the oldest texts. The /mn/ was assimilated to /nn/…
dor
It is inherited from Latin dolor (“pain”), written Old Galician-Portuguese door in the oldest texts. The Latin /l/ between vowels was lost, leaving two vowels side by side in the old form, which…
dormir
It is inherited from Latin dormiō (“to sleep”), written Old Galician-Portuguese dormir in the oldest texts. The same Latin word is Galician durmir, Spanish dormir, Catalan dormir, French dormir…
dourar
It is inherited from Late Latin dēaurō (“to gild”), written Old Galician-Portuguese dourar in medieval texts. Its participle dourado is recorded in the 13th century, the verb itself in the 14th. The…
doutor
It is inherited from Latin doctor (“teacher, instructor”), written Old Galician-Portuguese doutor in the oldest texts. Wiktionary calls it a semi-learned borrowing. The Latin spelling Old…
doze
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *dodece, a contraction of Latin duodecim (“twelve”). It is written Old Galician-Portuguese doze in the oldest texts and once Old Galician-Portuguese duze. The same…
dragão
It is inherited from Latin dracō (“dragon, serpent”), written Old Galician-Portuguese dragon in the oldest texts. Houaiss and Wiktionary derive it from the oblique stem of the Latin noun (the…
durante
It is inherited from Latin dūrāns (“lasting”), the present participle of dūrō (“to harden; to endure, last”). Vieira still called it the active participle of the Portuguese verb, and Nascentes's…
durar
It is inherited from Latin dūrō (“to harden; to hold out, last”), written Old Galician-Portuguese durar in the oldest texts. A Latin charter of 1025 already has the verb. The Latin verb is formed…
dureza
It is inherited from Latin dūritia (“hardness”), from dūrus (“hard”) and the suffix -itia. The same Latin word is Galician dureza, Spanish dureza, Catalan duresa and Italian durezza. De Vaan traces…
duro
It is inherited from Latin dūrus (“hard, firm, solid; harsh, cruel”), written Old Galician-Portuguese duro in the oldest texts. The same Latin word is Galician duro, Spanish duro, Catalan dur…
duvidar
It is inherited from Latin dubitō (“to doubt, hesitate”), written Old Galician-Portuguese dovidar in the oldest texts. Corominas notes that the ⟨i⟩ of the Portuguese verb shows a semi-learned form…
dúzia
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *duocina, written Old Galician-Portuguese duzea and Old Galician-Portuguese duçea in the oldest texts. Houaiss calls the origin obscure: the Late Latin form is a…
edifício
It is borrowed from Latin aedificium (“building”), recorded from the 14th century. Nascentes calls it semi-learned. The Latin noun is formed from aedificō (“to build”) with the suffix -ium. The same…
efeito
It is inherited from Latin effectus (“performance; result”), from efficiō (“to bring about, accomplish”). Nascentes counts it a semi-learned word. The oldest records keep the Latin spelling Old…
égua
It is inherited from Latin equa (“mare”), written Old Galician-Portuguese egua and Old Galician-Portuguese egoa in the oldest texts. The Latin word is the feminine of equus (“horse”). The same Latin…
eira
1. The word for the threshing floor is inherited from Latin ārea (“open space; threshing floor”), written Old Galician-Portuguese eira in the oldest texts. Nascentes derives it through a form *aira…
ele
It is inherited from Latin ille (“that”), written Old Galician-Portuguese ele in the oldest texts. The old language also had the short form Old Galician-Portuguese el, which was much commoner than…
elegância
It is borrowed from Latin ēlegantia (“taste, refinement, correctness”), first recorded in 1540. Nascentes calls it semi-learned. Cunha records the adjective elegante already in the 15th century…
em
It is inherited from Latin in (“in, into”), written Old Galician-Portuguese en in the oldest texts. The Latin preposition took the ablative for place and the accusative for direction; when the case…
embargar
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *imbarricō (“to bar, block”), a verb formed on *barra (“crossbar, bar for shutting a door”). Meyer-Lübke reconstructs the Vulgar Latin verb with the sense “to bar…