Romanian words from Latin
1992 Romanian words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 10).
domeniu
It is borrowed from French domaine and learned borrowed from Latin dominium (“ownership, property, (Medieval Latin) estate”), as DELR and the DLR give it. DEX and Wiktionary give French as the…
domn
It is inherited from Late Latin domnus (“master, lord”), the shortened form of dominus. The short form already occurs in Latin inscriptions. The Latin word is an old derivative of domus (“house”)…
dor
It is inherited from Late Latin dolus (“pain, grief”), a back-formation from doleō (“to feel pain”). DELR adds that ⟨dolus⟩ may have been remade from ⟨dolorum⟩, the genitive plural of dolor…
dori
It is formed from Romanian dor + -i. Dor “longing; pain” is from Late Latin dolus (“pain”), which DELR calls a back-formation from doleō (“to hurt”).
dormi
It is inherited from Latin dormiō (“to sleep”), a verb all the Romance languages share. It survives in all four branches: Aromanian dormu, Megleno-Romanian dorm and Istro-Romanian durmi. Its Romance…
dormita
It is inherited from Latin dormītō (“to be sleepy, to drowse”), formed on dormiō (“to sleep”) with the frequentative suffix -itō. It survives south of the Danube: Aromanian durmitizari and…
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…
dos
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin dossum (“back”), the popular form of Latin dorsum (“back”). De Vaan explains the ⟨ss⟩ as a late assimilation of /rs/, and derives the Latin noun from a compound…
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…
drege
It is inherited from Latin dīrigō (“to set in a line, to direct, to guide”), which Latin also used in the form dērigō. DELR starts from the variant, formed on dē- and regō (“to lead, to rule”), and…
drepnea
It is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *drepanella, through an intermediate *drepănea, a diminutive of drepanis (“swift, sand martin”), which is from Ancient Greek δρεπανίς (drepanís). The Greek…
drept
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *dērēctus (“straight”), a variant of Latin dīrēctus (“in a straight line, direct”) that the Romance languages share. Wiktionary also names the Late Latin syncopated…
dreptate
It is formed from Romanian drept + -ătate. Ciorănescu compares bunătate from bun, with an older ⟨-ăate⟩ reduced to ⟨-ate⟩. Pușcariu had derived it from Vulgar Latin *direc(ti)tatem, which Ciorănescu…
duce
1. The verb for carrying and leading is inherited from Latin dūcō (“to lead, conduct”). It survives in all four branches: Aromanian duc, Megleno-Romanian duc and Istro-Romanian duce. Few Romance…
duios
It is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *doliōsus, formed on *dolium (“pain”), a rare Latin word known from inscriptions and in literary texts only in the compound Latin cordolium (“heartache”)…
dulce
It is inherited from Latin dulcem (“sweet”). Wiktionary allows for some reinforcement by Italian dolce. The Latin word is akin to Ancient Greek γλυκύς (glukús, “sweet”), and de Vaan thinks both may…
dulcoare
DELR takes it as a learned loan, borrowed from Late Latin dulcor (“sweetness”), following Graur and the DLR, which give the same Latin source. The Latin noun was formed on Latin dulcis (“sweet”)…
dumesnic
It is inherited from Latin domesticus (“of the house, tame”), which the other Romance languages also continue. The Latin adjective comes from domus (“house”). It survives in Aromanian dumeastec, and…
dumica
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *dēmīcō (“to crumble”), formed on mīca (“crumb, grain”). This is the view of Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu, the REW and Tiktin. Ciorănescu rejects Rosetti's link…
duminică
It is inherited from Latin dominica (“(the day) of the Lord”), short for the Christian Latin diēs Dominica, a phrase modelled on Ancient Greek κυριακή (kuriakḗ). The adjective comes from dominus…
Dumnezeu
It is inherited from Latin domine deus (“O Lord God”), the vocative of dominus (“lord, master”) and deus (“god”), an invocation of Christian Latin. The REW notes that the word belongs to Christian…
după
It is inherited from Latin dē post (“from after”), from dē (“from”) and post (“after, behind”). DELR traces the change through *depo, assimilated to *dopo as in Italian; the regular outcome would…
dur
It is borrowed from French dur and a learned borrowed from Latin dūrus (“hard”), as DELR, MDA2 and DEX give it. Tiktin and Scriban give Latin alone, Ciorănescu Latin in the 19th century, and the DN…
dura
1. The word for building is inherited from Latin dolō (“to hew, chop into shape”). The older sense survives in Aromanian durari, first person dor, “to cut wood, carve”. Ciorănescu compares Albanian…
durea
It is inherited from Latin doleō (“to be in pain, cause pain”), a verb kept by all the Romance languages. The verb survives in all four branches: Aromanian dor, Megleno-Romanian doari and…
durere
It is the long infinitive of the verb used as a noun, formed from Romanian durea + -re. The verb is from Latin doleō (“to hurt, feel pain”). MDA2 instead derives the noun from Latin dolor (“pain”)…
duroare
It is inherited from Latin dolor (“pain”), in its accusative form, the view of Pușcariu, the REW, DELR, the DLR and MDA2. The Latin noun was formed on doleō (“to hurt”). Ciorănescu notes that it…
ea
It is inherited from Latin illa (“that (feminine)”), the feminine of the demonstrative ille (“that”), which became a personal pronoun in all the Romance languages. Latin -ll- developed regularly…
economie
It is borrowed from French économie, also borrowed from Latin oeconomia (“household management”), from Ancient Greek οἰκονομία (oikonomía). DEX names only the French word, MDA2 the French and the…
efect
It is borrowed from Latin effectus, also borrowed from French effet. DELR adds German Effekt, and the variant efept shows Romanian adaptation. Ciorănescu derives it from Latin through French, while…
el
It is inherited from Latin ille (“that”), the demonstrative of distance, which became the third-person pronoun in all the Romance languages in place of classical is. The masculine form comes from…
electric
It is borrowed from French électrique. DELR also names the scientific borrowed from New Latin electricus, the term introduced by the English physicist William Gilbert for the attracting power that…
elibera
It is borrowed from Latin ēlīberō (“to set free”), a learned borrowing, from līberō (“to free”). Ciorănescu dates it to the 19th century. It stood beside the older libera, with which it long competed.
emisiune
It is borrowed from French émission, with borrowed from Latin ēmissiō (“a sending out”) as a second model, one of the learned words that came into Romanian in the 19th century. MDA2 and the DLR add…
energie
It is borrowed from French énergie, borrowed from New Latin energia (“force in action, activity, efficacy”) as well, as DELR gives it; DEX gives the same two sources, and MDA2 adds Italian energia…
estimp
It is inherited from Latin istum tempus (“this time”), a phrase of iste (“this”) and tempus (“time”), the view of CADE, the DLR, DEX and Tiktin. DELR also allows a Romanian phrase of a(i)est “this”…
eu
It is inherited from Late Latin eo (“I”), the Late Latin form of egō with the loss of /g/ found in every Romance language except Sardinian. Candrea and Densusianu called the loss of /g/ still…
evident
It is borrowed from French évident, together with Latin ēvidens (“visible, clear”), as DELR, MDA2, the DLR and DEX 2009 give it; DELR adds Italian evidente, which Tiktin names alone. Wiktionary…
exact
It is borrowed from French exact, partly borrowed from Latin exāctus (“precise, exact”), the two sources that DEX, MDA2, DELR and the DLR give together. Tiktin and Wiktionary name only French…
excepție
It is borrowed from Latin exceptiō (“exception, restriction”) and French exception. DELR names the Latin noun first, as a learned loan, then the French one and Italian eccezione. Tiktin derives it…
excursie
It is borrowed from Latin excursiō (“a sally, raid; an outing”), taken as a learned word, with French excursion as a second model: DELR, the DLR, MDA2, DEX and DN name both. The Latin noun is from…
exemplu
It is borrowed from French exemple, and also borrowed from Latin exemplum (“sample, model”), as DELR, DLR, MDA2, DEX, MDN and Wiktionary give it; Tiktin and Scriban name Latin alone. The…
experiență
It is borrowed from Latin experientia, with French expérience and Italian esperienza named beside it by DELR and the DLR; DEX and MDA2 name French and Latin, Tiktin New Latin, and Wiktionary French…
explica
It is borrowed from Latin explicō (“to unfold, disentangle”), and also borrowed from French expliquer (“to explain”). DELR and the DLR also name Italian esplicare; MDA2, DEX and Wiktionary give…
extraordinar
It is borrowed from French extraordinaire and directly borrowed from Latin extraordinārius (“out of the common order, extraordinary”), the two sources DEX, MDA2 and Marcu name. Tiktin and Scriban…
extrem
It is borrowed from French extrême, also with borrowed from Latin extrēmus (“outermost, last”) as its model, a neologism of the 19th century. MDA2 names only the French word, the DLR the French with…
face
It is inherited from Latin faciō (“to make, to do”). It survives in all four branches: Aromanian fac, Megleno-Romanian fac and Istro-Romanian facu. Its Romance cognates include Italian fare, French…
fachie
It is inherited from Latin facula (“little torch”), a diminutive of fax (“torch”). Wiktionary starts from the contracted Vulgar Latin form *facla. Candrea–Densusianu explain the neuter ⟨fachi⟩…
fag
1. The word for the beech is inherited from Latin fāgus (“beech”). The Latin word comes from *fāgos, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂ǵos (“beech tree”), the source of English beech as well. It…
fagure
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *favulus (“honeycomb”), a diminutive of Latin favus (“honeycomb”), according to DEX and MDA2. Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu, the REW and the Academy dictionary take…
faimă
Ciorănescu takes it as borrowed from Latin fāma (“talk, report, reputation”), a learned word of the 19th century shaped on the older verb defăima “to defame”, and doubts a direct inheritance. The DA…
făină
It is inherited from Latin farīna (“flour, meal”). Ciorănescu explains the modern form through the variants still recorded: Latin /r/ between vowels gave fărină, which is still said in Transylvania…
făinos
It is inherited from Late Latin farīnōsus (“floury”), an adjective of Late and Vulgar Latin made from farīna (“flour, meal”). The Latin noun goes back to far (“a kind of grain, emmer”). Ciorănescu…
falcă
It is inherited from Latin falx (“sickle, scythe”) (accusative ⟨falcem⟩); the change of meaning from “sickle” to “jaw” is explained by the curved shape of the jawbone. Ciorănescu compares Sardinian…
falce
It is inherited from Latin falx (“sickle, scythe”) (accusative falcem). The measure was originally as much land as one could mow with the scythe in a day. Ciorănescu treats it as the regular outcome…
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…
famen
It is remade from the plural ⟨fameni⟩ of the old famăn “castrated man”, which is inherited from Vulgar Latin *feminus, formed on Latin fēmina (“woman”). Ciorănescu and the Academy dictionary take…
familie
It is borrowed from Latin familia (“household, family”), taken with Italian famiglia and French famille as models. The dictionaries weigh the models differently: MDA2 and DEX name Latin and Italian…
fân
It is inherited from Latin fēnum (“hay”). Wiktionary traces the Latin word to Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)-; de Vaan accepts this root, which meant “to suckle” and also “to bring forth”, only if…
fânaț
It is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *fenacium, an adjective of fēnum (“hay”) used as a noun, with prātum (“meadow”) understood. This is the view of Pușcariu, Candrea and Densusianu, the DA…