Romanian words from Greek
44 Romanian words with Greek in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
aer
It is inherited from Latin āēr (“air”), itself from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (aḗr). Ciorănescu, following Pușcariu, the REW and the DA, takes it directly from Latin. Tiktin points out that old Romanian did…
amăgi
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *ammagīre, from Ancient Greek μαγεύω (mageúō, “to practise magic, to bewitch”). The Greek verb comes from μάγος (mágos, “Magus, sorcerer”), from Old Persian maguš…
aspru
1. The word for the coin is borrowed from Byzantine Greek ἄσπρον (áspron). DEX, DER and MDA2 call the source Modern Greek, DELR Medieval and Modern Greek. The Greek word is the neuter of the…
biserică
It is inherited from Latin basilica, used by the Christians for a church; in classical Latin a basilica was a large public building for courts, assemblies and trade. The Latin word is from Ancient…
blestem
It is a back-formation from Romanian blestema (“to curse”), as the DA, DEX and DELR explain it. The verb continues Vulgar Latin *blastēmō, a form of Late Latin blasphēmō (“to revile, blaspheme”)…
blestema
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *blastēmō (“to revile”), which DELR and MDA2 write *blastimō, an altered form of Late Latin blasphēmō (“to revile, blaspheme”). The Latin verb is from Ancient Greek…
braț
It is inherited from Latin brachium (“arm”), a word of every Romance language. The Latin word is from Ancient Greek βραχίων (brakhíōn), first the part of the arm between shoulder and elbow, probably…
cămară
It is a borrowing from Greek, though the sources disagree on the exact donor. Ciorănescu's source is borrowed from Modern Greek κάμαρα (kámara, “room”), which itself comes from Latin camara, and he…
cameră
It is borrowed from Italian camera, as Ciorănescu, Tiktin, the DA and DEX give it. In DELR it is also borrowed from Modern Greek κάμερα (kámera), a form of κάμαρα (kámara). Ciorănescu dates the…
centru
It is borrowed from French centre and the learned Latin centrum. Tiktin gives only the Latin. The Latin word is from Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron, “goad, sting, sharp point”), which since Euclid…
cireașă
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin ceresia (“cherries”), the later Latin form of cerasia, the plural of cerasium (“cherry”), which is from Ancient Greek κεράσιον (kerásion, “cherry”). The forms with…
ciumă
It is probably inherited from Latin cȳma (“bud, shoot, top of a plant”), which is from Ancient Greek κῦμα (kûma, “swelling; wave”). The word first meant “swelling”, a sense that survives in regional…
coardă
It is inherited from Latin chorda (“string of a musical instrument, later also of a bow”), from Ancient Greek χορδή (khordḗ, “gut; string of an instrument”). The senses of music, mathematics…
cor
It is borrowed from New Latin chorus, with French chœur as a second model, DELR's two sources; the Latin word is from Ancient Greek χορός (khorós, “round dance, band of dancers, choir”). The sources…
coroană
It is borrowed from Medieval Latin corona (“crown”), a learned word, which the Academy dictionary DA thinks came in early through Hungarian korona or through Slavic, Bulgarian, Russian, Ruthenian or…
creștin
It is inherited from Latin Chrīstiānus (“Christian”), from Chrīstus, which is from Ancient Greek Χριστός (Khristós, “anointed”), from χρίω (khríō, “to anoint”). The Greek word is a calque of the…
cutie
It is borrowed from Ottoman Turkish قوطی (kutu), according to Ciorănescu, Wiktionary, Scriban and Șăineanu. DELR and DEX add Modern Greek κουτί (koutí) as a source, and DELR also names Bulgarian…
drac
It is inherited from Latin dracō (“dragon, large snake”), which is from Ancient Greek δράκων (drákōn, “serpent, dragon”). Romanian continues the Latin nominative, as in cap, om and șarpe, perhaps…
folosi
It is formed from Romanian folos + -i, on the noun meaning “use, profit”. The noun is from Byzantine Greek φελός (phelós), a shortened form of Ancient Greek ὄφελος (óphelos, “help, advantage”). DEX…
frică
It is probably borrowed from Byzantine Greek φρίκη (phríkē, “shudder, horror”), an old loan from Greek. Ciorănescu writes the Greek form as Modern Greek, MDA2 marks the origin as unknown and only…
furtună
Its origin is disputed: Ciorănescu takes it as inherited from Latin fortūna (“fortune, luck”), like the Romance words that also mean “storm”: Italian fortuna, French fortune and Spanish fortuna. He…
grec
It is inherited from Latin graecus (“Greek”). The Latin word is from Ancient Greek Γραικός (Graikós). In Greek the old ethnic name became, under Ottoman rule, a common name for the Greeks. The word…
idiot
It is borrowed from French idiot. Tiktin and the neologism dictionaries also name the Latin and Greek forms beside the French one. The French word was taken from Latin idiōta at the end of the 12th…
înger
It is inherited from Late Latin angelus (“angel”), the Church Latin word, which is from Ancient Greek ἄγγελος (ángelos, “messenger”). The DA counts it among the oldest layer of Christian words in…
leu
1. The word for the lion is borrowed from Latin leō (“lion”), according to Ciorănescu a learned loan, which he dates to the 17th century. Inheritance is hard on the sound: Latin short /e/ would have…
lin
1. The word for the tench is borrowed from Bulgarian лин (lin, “tench”), according to DEX, MDA2 and the DLR. Ciorănescu and Tiktin take it as borrowed from Old Church Slavonic линь (linĭ), after…
lipsi
It is borrowed from Modern Greek λείψω (leípso, “I shall be absent, lack”), the future of the verb meaning “to be absent, leave, lack”. Tiktin names the Byzantine Greek verb and its future as the…
măcar
It is borrowed from Byzantine Greek μακάρι (makári, “may God grant it”), as the DLR and MDA2 give it. Ciorănescu, the DEX and Wiktionary name the same word as Modern Greek μακάρι (makári). It comes…
mângâia
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *manganeō (“to bewitch”), from Ancient Greek μαγγανεύω (manganeúō, “to use charms or philtres”), from μάγγανον (mánganon, “means of charming, philtre”). Ciorănescu…
mânie
DEX, Ciorănescu and Wiktionary take it as inherited from Latin mania (“madness”), a popular Latin word, which is from Ancient Greek μανία (manía, “madness, frenzy”). The Greek noun belongs with the…
milă
1. The word for pity is borrowed from Old Church Slavonic милъ (milŭ), feminine мила (mila), “worthy of pity”. Ciorănescu cites Miklosich, Cihac, Berneker and Tiktin for it. The Slavonic adjective…
muzică
It is a learned word with several sources, the usual case for Romanian neologisms: DEX and DLR give its sources as borrowed from Latin musica, Italian musica, French musique and German Musik, and…
palat
1. The word for the palate is borrowed from Latin palātum (“palate”), with Italian palato as a second model according to DEX and MDN. DEX and the DLR compare French palais. Ciorănescu treats it as a…
păstra
Its source is disputed. Ciorănescu takes it borrowed from Modern Greek παστρεύω (pastrévo, “to clean”), from πάστρα (pástra, “cleanliness”), following Meyer and Tiktin, and compares Albanian pastroj…
pat
1. The word for the bed is borrowed from Modern Greek πάτος (pátos, “beaten path”) according to DEX, MDA2 and the DLR. Tiktin also calls this Greek source probable, noting that the later Greek word…
pepene
It is inherited from Latin pepo (“a kind of large melon”), through a stem in ⟨-in-⟩, Vulgar Latin *pepinem, instead of the classical stem in ⟨-ōn-⟩. REW lists such a form among the Latin glosses…
por
1. The word for the pore is borrowed from French pore, also directly Latin porus (“passage, channel in the body”), as DEX, DN and MDN give it, a neologism with several sources. MDA2 adds Modern…
preot
It is inherited from Latin prĕbĭter, a popular variant of presbyter (“priest”), which is from Ancient Greek πρεσβύτερος (presbúteros, “elder”). Candrea and Densusianu explain the variant as a…
sâmbătă
Ciorănescu takes it as inherited from Vulgar Latin *sambatum (“Saturday”), the form with /m/ of Latin sabbatum. Wiktionary gives the feminine *sambata as the immediate source. The same nasal form…
școală
It is borrowed from Old Church Slavonic школа (škola), as MDA2 and the DLR state. DEX names the modern Slavic languages instead: Bulgarian школа (škola), Serbo-Croatian škola, Russian школа (škola)…
sigur
It is borrowed from Modern Greek σίγουρος (sígouros, “sure, safe”), which comes from Venetian seguro or siguro, from Latin secūrus (“free from care; safe”). The DLR and MDA2 give the Greek form as…
stradă
It is borrowed from Italian strada (“road, street”), a loan of the 19th century, as DER, Tiktin, MDA2 and NODEX have it. DEX, Marcu's dictionary of neologisms and Wiktionary give borrowed from…
tom
It is borrowed from Modern Greek τόμος (tómos), with Latin tomus and French tome as further sources in MDA2 and the Academy dictionary. DEX gives French and Latin, Tiktin Greek or Latin and French…
urmă
Its origin is disputed. According to MDA2 and the DLR, it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *orma, and Wiktionary calls it possibly from that form or from Late Latin osma, itself from Ancient Greek…