300–201 BC

Romanian words from Latin words first recorded in the 3rd century BC

503 Romanian words inherited from a Latin word whose earliest known written record dates from the 3rd century BC, earliest Latin record first (page 4).

fiară
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin fera

It is inherited from Latin fera (“wild animal”). Ciorănescu gives Aromanian hiară, although Pușcariu notes that Papahagi did not know it. Romance cognates include Italian fera, Spanish fera and…
frate
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin frater

It is inherited from Latin frāter (“brother”), continuing either the nominative or the accusative frātrem, which lost its second /r/. The Latin noun comes from Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr. The…
fără
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin foras

It is inherited from Latin forās (“out of doors, outside”). Ciorănescu suggests that the short variant făr may continue forīs (“outside”). The first is the adverbial accusative plural of an old noun…
geamăn
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin geminus

It is inherited from Latin geminus (“twin-born, twin”). Aromanian has dzeamin. Of the Romance languages, Portuguese gémeo is likewise inherited, while Italian gemino is a learned word; French jumeau…
gint
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin gens

It is inherited from Latin gēns (“race, nation, people”), from its accusative gentem. Wiktionary posits a Vulgar Latin *gentum, with a change of declension that made the word neuter. The Latin noun…
holba
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin volvo

It is most often explained as inherited from Latin volvō (“to roll, turn”), with a change of conjugation, through the variant volba. Candrea and Densusianu explain the /h/ for /v/ before a labial as…
ieri
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin heri

It is inherited from Latin herī (“yesterday”). The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian aieri or Aromanian aeri, Megleno-Romanian ieri and Istro-Romanian ieri. Its Romance cognates include…
inimă
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin anima

It is inherited from Latin anima (“breath, soul”). The shift from “soul” to “heart” happened only in Romanian; Ciorănescu compares animus glossed “heart” in a gloss from Toledo. The DA notes that…
iuo
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin ubi

It is inherited from Latin ubi (“where”), whose beginning was confused with ibi (“there”). Tiktin starts from a spoken Latin *ubĭ with a short final vowel, as the Italian form shows, and finds the…
lingură
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin lingula

It is inherited from Latin lingula (“spoon”). Ciorănescu notes that this form is attested in Martial and arose from a crossing of ligula (“spoon”) with lingō (“to lick”), following Keller, Pușcariu…
lume
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin lumen

It is inherited from Latin lūmen (“light”). It survives in all four branches: Aromanian lume, Megleno-Romanian lumi and Istro-Romanian lume. Its Romance cognates keep the sense “light” or “fire”…
mierlă
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin merula

It is inherited from Latin merula (“blackbird”). It survives in all four branches: Aromanian njerlã, Megleno-Romanian ńierla and Istro-Romanian merlę. The Romance cognates include Italian merla and…
minte
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin mens

It is inherited from Latin mentem (“mind”), the accusative of the Latin noun. The Latin word goes back to Proto-Indo-European *méntis (“thought”). The word survives south of the Danube: Aromanian…
munte
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin mons

It is inherited from Latin mōns (“mountain”), from the accusative montem. The Latin word goes back to Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to stand out, tower”). It survives in all four branches: Aromanian…
mut
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin mutus

It is inherited from Latin mūtus (“dumb, inarticulate”). De Vaan explains the Latin word as “one who can say nothing but ⟨mū⟩”, from Proto-Indo-European *mū̆-to-. It survives in all four branches…
nas
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin nasus

It is inherited from Latin nāsus (“nose”). It survives as Megleno-Romanian nas and Istro-Romanian nǫs. In Aromanian the nose is nare, and the cognate only names the pointed tip of a sandal. Its…
nat
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin natus

It is inherited from Latin nātus (“born; a son”), the past participle of nāscor (“to be born”). Ciorănescu compares the Latin plural in the sense “offspring”, as opposed to the parents. Wiktionary…
nouă
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin novem

It is inherited from Latin novem (“nine”). The Latin numeral continues Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥. It survives in Aromanian noauã and Megleno-Romanian noauă. Its Romance cognates include Italian…
nu
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin non

It is inherited from Latin nōn (“not”), the Latin negation that survives in most Romance languages. Candrea and Densusianu explain the form by the two ways Latin used the word in the sentence…
nuc
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin nux

Ciorănescu, Tiktin and Wiktionary have it inherited from Latin nux (“nut”). Ciorănescu cites Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu and the REW. In the Romance languages the Latin word names the fruit…
nucă
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin nux

It is inherited from Latin nux (“nut”), as the DEX, MDA2 and the DLR give it. Tiktin explains that Romanian split the Latin noun into a masculine *nucus for the tree and a feminine *nuca for the…
număr
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin numerus

It is inherited from Latin numerus (“number”). The verb număra “to count” may be a Romanian derivative of the noun or continue Latin numerō (“to count”) directly. The noun survives south of the…
număra
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin numero

It is inherited from Latin numerō (“to count”), a verb made on numerus (“number”). It survives south of the Danube: Aromanian numir and Megleno-Romanian numir. Its Romance cognates include Dalmatian…
op
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin opus

1. The word for “need” is inherited from Latin opus (“work; need”), used above all in opus est (“it is needed”). Pușcariu and Candrea and Densusianu give the same etymon. Cihac gave the same etymon…
pas
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin passus

1. The word for “step, pace” is inherited from Latin passus (“step, pace”). Its Romance cognates include Italian passo, French pas, Spanish paso and Portuguese passo, and Albanian pas (“fathom”)…
pierde
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin perdo

It is inherited from Latin perdō (“to destroy, ruin; to lose”). It was formed from per- (“through, thoroughly”) and dō (“to give, put”). The verb survives in all four branches: Aromanian cherdu…
pune
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin pono

It is inherited from Latin pōnō (“to put, place”). The Latin verb goes back to Proto-Italic *posinō, a compound of a prefix *po- and the verb that gave sinō (“to let”). The word survives in all four…
râde
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin rideo

It is inherited from Latin rīdeō (“to laugh”). Romanian, like the other Romance languages, continues the spoken form *rīdere of the third conjugation instead of the classical second-conjugation…
răpi
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin rapio

It is inherited from Latin rapiō (“to seize, carry off”), in the fourth-conjugation form *rapīre that replaced the Classical infinitive ⟨rapere⟩. It survives south of the Danube: Aromanian arachiu…
saț
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin satis

Ciorănescu takes it as inherited from Latin satis (“enough”), through an unattested *satius that Meillet considered necessary to explain satietās, and compares Old French sez (“abundance”)…
semn
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin signum

It is inherited from Latin signum (“mark, sign”). It survives in Aromanian semnu and Megleno-Romanian semn. Its Romance cognates include Italian segno, Occitan senh, Old French seing, Catalan senya…
soage
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin subigo

It is inherited from Latin subigō (“to work through, knead”), the source given by Pușcariu, the REW, Ciorănescu, the DLR and Wiktionary; Tiktin calls it probable. The Latin verb is a compound of…
socru
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin socrus

It is inherited from Late Latin socrus (“father-in-law”), the form recorded by Consentius in place of Classical socer. In Classical Latin that form was the feminine, meaning “mother-in-law”; the…
soră
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin soror

It is inherited from Latin soror (“sister”). The regular result was ⟨sor⟩, from the Latin nominative with the loss of final /r/, later fitted to the feminine nouns in ⟨-ă⟩. The plural ⟨surori⟩…
sta
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin sto

It is inherited from Latin stō (“to stand”). The present ⟨stau⟩ continues Vulgar Latin *staō. Tiktin derives the perfect ⟨stătui⟩ and the participle ⟨stătut⟩ perhaps from Latin statuō (“to set up”)…
sunet
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin sonitus

It is inherited from Latin sonitus (“sound, noise”), a noun formed on sonō (“to sound”). Pușcariu discusses it as article 1695 of his Latin dictionary, and the REW lists only Romanian for the Latin…
săgeată
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin sagitta

It is inherited from Latin sagitta (“arrow”). Ciorănescu cites Pușcariu, the REW, Skok and Jokl for this etymology. De Vaan finds no etymology for the Latin word. It survives south of the Danube as…
săruta
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin saluto

It is inherited from Latin salūtō (“to greet”). Ciorănescu cites Pușcariu's EWRS (no. 1528), the REW, Șăineanu's semasiology and Densusianu for this etymology. DÉRom reconstructs the verb for…
teme
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin timeo

It is inherited from Latin timeō (“to fear”), and DER adds that it passed through a popular form with a long /iː/, *tīmeō. The verb has Istro-Romanian temu beside it, and Romance cognates in Italian…
temoare
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin timor

Tiktin, Scriban and Wiktionary take it as inherited from Latin timor (“fear”) (accusative timōrem), and the REW lists Aromanian temoare beside Italian timore, Occitan temor and Portuguese temor as…
tăcea
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin taceo

It is inherited from Latin taceō (“to be silent”). The Latin verb continues Proto-Italic *takēō, which de Vaan derives from Proto-Indo-European *tHk-eh₁- (“to be silent”), with cognates in Germanic…
vinde
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin vendo

It is inherited from Latin vendō (“to sell”). The Latin verb is a compound of vēnum (“sale”) and dō (“to give”), literally “to give for sale”. The verb survives in all four branches of Romanian…
vineri
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin Venus

It is inherited from Latin Veneris (“of Venus”), the genitive of the goddess's name in diēs Veneris (“day of Venus”). The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian vinjiri, Megleno-Romanian…
viu
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin vivus

It is inherited from Latin vīvus (“alive, living”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós (“alive”). The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian viu, Megleno-Romanian viu and Istro-Romanian viu…
văr
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin verus

It is inherited from Latin (cōnsōbrīnus) vērus (“true (cousin)”): the phrase meaning “first cousin” was shortened to its adjective. The full phrase survives as Aromanian cusurin ver, and…
încă
235 BC–200 BC

from Latin umquam

It is inherited from Latin unquam (“ever, at any time”) according to DEX, MDA2 and Wiktionary. Ciorănescu calls this probable. Pușcariu proposed this etymon with some hesitation, and…
întreg
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin integer

It is inherited from Latin integrum (“untouched, whole”), the accusative form. The DA analyses the Latin adjective as in- (“not”) and the stem of tangō (“to touch”). The ⟨r⟩ moved early, before the…
ține
235 BC–201 BC

from Latin teneo

It is inherited from Latin teneō (“to hold, grasp”). The present infinitive was first ținea, the regular outcome of a verb of the Latin second conjugation; in Muntenia it went over to the third…
apos
234 BC–149 BC

from Latin aquosus

It is inherited from Latin aquōsus (“watery, abounding in water”). The Academy dictionary also compares French aqueux. MDA2 allows a Romanian formation as well, from Romanian apă + -os, and Tiktin…
carpen
234 BC–149 BC

from Latin carpinus

It is inherited from Latin carpinus (“hornbeam”), with a short /i/, as Tiktin notes. The Latin word is shared by the Romance languages: Italian carpino and carpine, French charme, Spanish carpe and…
căpăstru
234 BC–149 BC

from Latin capistrum

It is inherited from Latin capistrum (“halter, headstall”), a word that survives across the Romance languages. It survives in all four branches: Aromanian cãpestru, Megleno-Romanian căpestru and…
deșert
234 BC–149 BC

from Latin desertus

It is inherited from Latin dēsertus (“abandoned, deserted”), the past participle of dēserō (“to abandon”), first “to detach”, a compound of serō (“to join, string together”). The word survives in…
ierbos
234 BC–149 BC

from Latin herbosus

It is inherited from Latin herbōsus (“grassy”), an adjective formed on herba (“grass, vegetation”). DEX gives the Latin adjective or a native formation from Romanian iarbă + -os as equal…
oală
234 BC–149 BC

from Latin olla

It is inherited from Latin olla (“pot”). Pușcariu (no. 1212), Candrea–Densusianu (no. 1267) and the REW list it among the inherited words. The Latin word had an older form aula, the usual one in…
plăcintă
234 BC–149 BC

from Latin placenta

It is inherited from Latin placenta (“flat cake”). Ciorănescu notes that Romanian is the only Romance language to keep the word, and that the sounds of the dialects confirm the derivation. Latin had…
pur
234 BC–149 BC

from Latin porrum

1. The word for the sand leek is inherited from Latin porrum (“leek”), with an unexpected /u/: Tiktin notes that this vowel is found nowhere else. DEX gives the Latin word only with a “compare”. The…
putoare
234 BC–149 BC

from Latin putor

It is inherited from Latin putor (“rottenness, stench”), accusative putōrem. The noun is formed from Latin puteō (“to stink”) + -or. Wiktionary notes that it can also be analysed as Romanian puți…
pământ
234 BC–149 BC

from Latin pavimentum

It is inherited from Latin pavīmentum (“floor of beaten earth or stones”), probably through the popular form paumentum, which the grammarian Julian records. Pușcariu reconstructed the same form with…
păr
234 BC–149 BC

from Latin pirus

1. The word for the pear tree is inherited from Latin pirus (“pear tree”). It survives in all four branches: Aromanian per, Megleno-Romanian per and Istro-Romanian per. Besides Romanian, the Latin…
trece
234 BC–149 BC

from Latin traicio

It is inherited from Latin trāiciō (“to throw across, carry over”). Elsewhere in Romance it survives in Portuguese tragir and Old Occitan tragir. The word survives in all four branches of Romanian…

All Romanian words inherited from Latin, by century →