Romanian words from Italian
36 Romanian words with Italian in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
abate
1. The word for the abbot is borrowed from Italian abate. DLRM and MDA2 also name borrowed from Latin abbās, abbātis, while the DA has it borrowed from French abbé: DELR records all three views. The…
amic
It is a neologism of the late 18th century, borrowed from Italian amico, or taken directly from Latin amīcus (“friend”): DELR, DEX and DN name both, DER and MDA2 the Latin word only. DLRM gives the…
arie
1. The word for the threshing floor is inherited from Latin ārea (“open space, threshing floor”). It survives south of the Danube too: Aromanian arye and Megleno-Romanian aryie. The Romance cognates…
armată
It is borrowed from Italian armata, the noun use of the feminine participle of armare (“to arm”); DEX, MDA2, DER and Wiktionary give the Italian source. In DELR's view it may also be borrowed from…
ataca
It is borrowed from French attaquer (“to attack”), a 19th-century neologism. DELR names borrowed from Italian attaccare beside the French verb, and Tiktin gives only the Italian word. The DA takes…
bancă
1. The word for the bench is borrowed from Italian banca (“bench”), the source DELR and DA prefer. In Transylvania German Bank (“bench”) contributed too, which kept the feminine gender, as DELR, DA…
barcă
It is borrowed from Italian barca. Tiktin allows that it came indirectly, and Ciorănescu thinks it probably came by an eastern route, through the Turkish and Balkan forms of the Italian word. DELR…
bombă
It is borrowed from Italian bomba for Ciorănescu, DELR and Tiktin, and DELR adds that it came in also through Polish bomba, German Bombe, Russian бомба (bomba) and French bombe. DEX, MDA2, NODEX and…
bravo
The dictionaries give two sources: In DA, Tiktin, Scriban and MDA2 it is borrowed from Italian bravo; the DLRM has French bravo. DELR, DEX and Wiktionary give both, and DELR adds that the French…
buf
1. The word for the owl is inherited from Late Latin būfus (“owl”), a by-form of būbō, probably imitative. Nocentini takes būfō for an Osco-Umbrian variant of the classical word. It survives south…
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…
căpitan
It is borrowed from Italian capitano, which Ciorănescu thinks came into Romanian in the Middle Ages, probably by a Levantine route. The dictionaries do not agree on the route. DEX gives Italian…
casă
1. The word for a house is inherited from Latin casa (“hut, cottage”). The DA notes that in Vulgar Latin the word took the general sense of house, replacing domus and aedes. The origin of the Latin…
cont
It is borrowed from Italian conto (“account”), with German Konto and French compte as further models: DELR, DER and DN give all three, DEX the French and Italian words with the German one compared…
conta
It is borrowed from French compter (“to count”), perhaps also borrowed from Italian contare. DELR gives French first and Italian as possible; MDA2, DEX and the neologism dictionaries name both, and…
costa
It is borrowed from Italian costare (“to cost”), a word of trade of the early 19th century. According to the DA, MDA2 and Tiktin it is also borrowed from German kosten; Scriban names French coûter…
costum
It is borrowed from French costume, as DEX, Ciorănescu, MDA2, Tiktin and the neologism dictionaries give it. DELR adds that it may also have come through Russian костюм (kostjum). The French word is…
distruge
It is borrowed from Italian distruggere (“to destroy”), as Ciorănescu, DEX, Tiktin and the neologism dictionaries give it. DELR explains the Italian ⟨gg⟩: the Italian verb continues Latin dēstruō…
dormitor
The noun is borrowed from Latin dormītōrium (“bedroom, dormitory”), a learned borrowing, partly borrowed from Italian dormitorio. DEX, MDA2, Scriban and Marcu name only the Latin word. The Latin…
fals
It is borrowed from Latin falsus (“false”), as Ciorănescu and Wiktionary give it; DEX, MDA2 and MDN add that it is also borrowed from Italian falso, and Tiktin calls it a New Latin word taken partly…
fugă
1. The word for running and flight is inherited from Latin fuga (“flight”). It survives in all four branches: Aromanian fugă, Megleno-Romanian fugă and Istro-Romanian fuge. Its Romance cognates…
incredibil
It is borrowed from Italian incredibile, with Latin incredibilis as a second source, as DEX, DN, MDN and NODEX give it. According to MDA2 and Wiktionary it is also borrowed from French incrédible…
la
It is inherited from Latin illāc (“that way, there”), an adverb that took on the role of a preposition. Ciorănescu and Tiktin start from a strengthened compound of this adverb and the preposition ad…
linie
It is borrowed from Latin līnea (“linen thread, line”), together with borrowed from Italian linea, borrowed in the 18th century. MDA2 and the DLR add German Linie and French ligne; the DLR says…
mesaj
It is borrowed from French message. Ciorănescu and MDA2 add borrowed from Italian messaggio, the model of the variant mesagiu. The French word was formed in the 11th century with the suffix -age on…
miază
1. The word for the disease is borrowed from Italian miasi according to DEX 2009 and Wiktionary. The neologism dictionaries of Marcu and Maneca and of Marcu give it as borrowed from French myiase…
mură
1. The word for the blackberry is inherited from Latin mōra, the plural of mōrum (“mulberry, blackberry”) taken as a feminine singular. MDA2 and Tiktin give the Latin singular as the etymon…
noutate
According to DEX, DLR and MDA2, which give it several sources at once, it is borrowed from Latin novitās (“newness, novelty”), borrowed from French nouvelle (“news”) and, in DLR and MDA2, borrowed…
oferi
It is borrowed from Italian offerire (“to offer”), according to Tiktin, DEX and Wiktionary. Other dictionaries name several sources at once, the multiple etymology usual for neologisms: MDA2 and the…
reuși
It is borrowed from Italian riuscire (“to succeed”), with French réussir as a second model: DEX, MDA2, DLR and Wiktionary name both, and Ciorănescu writes of the French verb combined with the…
salt
It is borrowed from Latin saltus (“leap”) together with borrowed from Italian salto in the view of DEX and MDA2. The Latin noun is formed on saliō (“to jump”). Ciorănescu and Tiktin instead treat it…
scuza
It is a neologism, borrowed from Italian scusare, with a second model in French excuser: DER, MDA2, Tiktin, MDN and DLR name both, while DEX and DN give the Italian verb and compare the French one…
special
It is a neologism that the dictionaries derive from several languages at once. For DEX and MDN it is borrowed from French spécial together with Latin speciālis; in MDA2 and the DLR it is also…
stat
1. The word for the state has several sources in the dictionaries: DEX 2009 says it is borrowed from Italian stato and Latin stātus, with some senses after French état; Wiktionary gives the Italian…
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…
vioară
1. The word for the violet is inherited from Latin viola (“violet”), with the intervocalic /l/ becoming /r/. The Latin word is related to Ancient Greek ἴον (íon, “violet”). Tiktin thinks the…