Romanian words from Latin
2009 Romanian words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 11).
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…
fântână
It is inherited from Late Latin fontāna (“spring, fountain”), the feminine of fontānus (“of a spring”) used as a noun, from fōns (“spring”). Wiktionary also allows a shortening of the phrase fontāna…
fantastic
It is borrowed from French fantastique and also borrowed from Latin phantasticus (“imaginary”), as DEX, MDA2 and Marcu give it. Marcu and Maneca add Italian fantastico. The word was used long before…
fapt
It is inherited from Latin factum (“deed, act”), the neuter past participle of faciō (“to do, make”) used as a noun. It was at first also the past participle of face; after the 16th century făcut…
faptă
It is inherited from Latin facta (“deeds, things done”), the neuter plural of factum (“deed”), taken as a feminine singular. Ciorănescu reads the word differently: he lists it among the derivatives…
făptură
It is inherited from Latin factūra (“a making; form, shape”), of the family of faciō (“to make, to do”). Aromanian fãpturã (“creature”) is the same word. Albanian fytyrë (“face”) is compared with…
fără
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…
farmec
It is inherited from Latin pharmacum (“drug, magic potion”), from Ancient Greek φάρμακον (phármakon, “drug, poison, charm”). Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu, Philippide and Rosetti take this Latin…
fașă
It is inherited from Latin fascia (“band, bandage, swathe”), related to fascis (“bundle”). The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian fashe, Megleno-Romanian fașă and Istro-Romanian foșa. Its…
făt
It is inherited from Latin fētus (“offspring, young”). It survives in Aromanian fet and Istro-Romanian fet. Ciorănescu compares Sardinian fedu and Occitan fedoun “lamb”. The feminine fată “girl” and…
fată
It is inherited from Latin fēta (“a woman or a female animal that has just given birth”), the adjective fētus used as a noun. It survives in all four branches: Aromanian featã, Megleno-Romanian fętă…
față
It is inherited from Late Latin facia, the popular form of Latin faciēs (“face, shape”). The Late Latin form is attested in Virgilius Grammaticus, around the 7th century. The Latin noun is formed on…
făta
It is inherited from Latin fētō (“to bring forth young, breed”), a verb made from fētus (“bearing young, fruitful”). Ciorănescu follows Pușcariu, Candrea and Densusianu, the REW and the DA. The verb…
faulă
Ciorănescu takes it as inherited from Latin fābula (“story”), with the same sound changes as sulă from sūbula and staul from stabulum, and a shift of the stress as in aud from audiō. This makes it a…
faur
1. The word for February is a back-formation from Romanian făurar (“February”). That word, from Februārius, fell together with făurar “smith”, a derivative of faur, and by analogy with that pair the…
făurar
1. The word for the month is inherited from Late Latin Febrārius (“February”), from Latin Februārius. Candrea and Densusianu start from this popular form beside the classical one; the DA and DEX…
fecioară
It is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *fētiola, a diminutive of Latin fēta (“female that has just given birth”), from fētus. DEX also allows a formation from Romanian fată + -ioară, and Scriban…
fecior
It is most often explained as inherited from Vulgar Latin *fētiolus (“little child”), a diminutive of Latin fētus (“offspring”). Ciorănescu cites this view but thinks it more likely that the word…
femeie
It is inherited from Latin familia (“household, family”). Romanian familie is a later learned borrowing of the same Latin word. Wiktionary notes that the word has nothing to do with Latin femella or…
fereastră
It is inherited from Latin fenestra (“window”). The /n/ between vowels became /r/ by rhotacism. The word survives in Aromanian as fireastrã. Its Romance cognates include Italian finestra, Occitan…
fereca
It is inherited from Latin fabricō (“to fashion, forge”), a verb made from fabrica (“workshop, craft”), a derivative of faber (“craftsman, smith”). Ciorănescu follows Candrea and Densusianu, the…
feri
Its origin is disputed: DEX and MDA2 call it of unknown origin. Ciorănescu derives it inherited from Latin feriō (“to strike”), which he finds in Cicero with the sense “to keep, respect”. Tiktin and…
ferice
It is inherited from Latin fēlīx, fēlīcem (“fruitful; fortunate, happy”), continuing the accusative. The REW records it only in Romanian; Ciorănescu calls Italian felice and Spanish feliz…
ferigă
It is inherited from Latin filix (“fern, bracken”), continued from its accusative filicem. Ciorănescu cites Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu and the DAR for this etymology. The Latin noun names any…
fi
It is inherited from Latin sum (“to be”), whose infinitive ⟨esse⟩ was replaced by that of fierī (“to become, happen”). Wiktionary traces the citation form ⟨fi⟩ and the forms in ⟨f-⟩ to a Vulgar…
fiară
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…
fiastru
It is inherited from Late Latin fīliaster (“stepson”), formed in Latin from fīlius (“son”) with the suffix -aster. Ciorănescu cites Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu, the REW, Philippide and the DAR for…
ficat
It is inherited from Late Latin fīcātum (“liver”), short for Latin iecur fīcātum (“fig-fed liver”), the liver of a goose fattened on figs, from fīcus (“fig”). Ciorănescu notes that the Romance forms…
fier
It is inherited from Latin ferrum (“iron”). The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian her, Megleno-Romanian ier and Istro-Romanian fľer. Its Romance cognates include Italian ferro, Dalmatian…
fierar
It is inherited from Latin ferrārius (“blacksmith”), the view of Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu, the REW, the DA, Tiktin, DEX and MDA2. Ciorănescu lists it among the derivatives of fier “iron”, made…
fierătaie
Candrea–Densusianu and the DA explain it as an old derivative, inherited from Vulgar Latin *ferratalia, formed on ferrātus (“of iron, iron-bound”), which is found again in Occitan ferratalha…
fierbe
It is inherited from Latin fervĕre (“to boil”), the third-conjugation form of the Latin verb. De Vaan notes that ⟨fervere⟩ is the usual form from Plautus to Virgil and ⟨fervēre⟩ the later one. The…
fierbinte
It is inherited from Latin fervēns (“boiling, hot”), the present participle of ferveō (“to boil”). Candrea and Densusianu point out that the regular outcome would have been ⟨ferbinte⟩, and explain…
fiere
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *felem, a popular form that replaced Latin fel (“bile, gall”) with its genitive fellis; DEX and MDA2 write it *fele. Ciorănescu cites Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu…
fiică
It is formed from Romanian fie + -ică, a diminutive of the old word for “daughter”, which it replaced. The DA explains the suffix by the model of maică “mother”. Ciorănescu compares the diminutives…
fin
1. The adjective meaning “fine” is borrowed from French fin. The neologism dictionaries name French and Italian fino as its sources. Ciorănescu takes it from fino, probably through the East. He…
fior
It is inherited from Latin febris (“fever”). The form is not the expected one, and the dictionaries explain it differently: Ciorănescu says the regular outcome would have been a singular ⟨*fiore⟩…
fir
It is inherited from Latin fīlum (“thread”). De Vaan derives the Latin word from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰiH-(s-)lo- (“sinew, sinew thread”). The noun survives south of the Danube: Aromanian hir and…
fiu
It is inherited from Latin fīlius (“son”). DER cites Pușcariu, Candrea and Densusianu and the REW for this etymology. It survives in all four branches: Aromanian hilj, Megleno-Romanian il'u and…
fiulare
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *fībulāria, a derivative of Latin fībula (“pin, bolt, clasp”). The etymology goes back to Candrea-Hecht's study of the Latin elements of Romanian and is accepted by…
flacără
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *flacula, from Latin facula (“little torch”), the diminutive of fax (“torch”). This etymon has been generally accepted since Gustav Meyer and Pușcariu. The /l/…
flămând
The word is inherited from Latin, but its exact source is disputed: the DA holds its link with Latin famēs (“hunger”) to be certain, though no satisfactory etymology had been found, and DEX calls it…
flaur
It is inherited from Latin flābrum (“gust or blast of wind”), as Bogrea proposed in the first volume of Dacoromania; Ciorănescu and the REW accept the etymology. The Latin noun is formed on flō (“to…
floare
It is inherited from Latin flōrem (“flower”), the accusative of the Latin noun, which lives on in nearly every Romance language. The Latin word goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“to…
floc
It is inherited from Latin floccus (“tuft of wool”), a word continued in most of the Romance languages. Pușcariu gives Aromanian floc for the Aromanian form, and Papahagi records it with the sense…
Florii
DEX, MDA2, the DLRM and Candrea and Densusianu derive it as inherited from Vulgar Latin *florilia, a form of Flōrālia, the Roman festival of Flora. The Latin name of the festival is formed on Flōra…
fluture
Its origin is disputed. For DEX and MDA2 it is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *flutulus. DA likewise posits a popular Latin *fluctulus, comparing Albanian and Italian forms. Tiktin calls it…
foaie
It is inherited from Late Latin folia (“leaf”), the plural of Latin folium (“leaf”), taken as a feminine singular, at first with a collective sense. Some modern senses follow French feuille. Besides…
foale
It is inherited from Latin follis (“bellows; leather bag”). The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian foaie, Megleno-Romanian foale and Istro-Romanian foie. Its Romance cognates include…
foame
It is inherited from Latin famēs (“hunger”). The diphthong ⟨oa⟩ is unexpected, since Latin stressed /a/ normally stays /a/, and it has been much discussed. Tiktin and the DA explain the /o/ by the…
foarfece
It is inherited from Latin forficem (“shears, scissors”), the accusative of the noun. Ciorănescu thinks the word was first a plural only, and that the feminine foarfecă is a later singular made on…
foarte
It is inherited from Latin forte (“strong, strongly”), a form of the adjective fortis (“strong, robust”) that came to be used as an adverb. Wiktionary traces the Latin adjective to…
foc
It is inherited from Latin focus (“hearth, fireplace”). The Latin word first meant the hearth and only later, in Late Latin and the Romance languages, the fire itself, displacing ignis (“fire”). It…
foi
Ciorănescu derives it from Romanian foaie + -i, from the noun for “leaf”, and calls the older derivation from foale “bellows” or from a Latin verb a mistake (against Cihac, Schuchardt…
forfeca
It is inherited from Late Latin forficō (“to cut with shears”), a verb formed on forfex (“shears, scissors”). Candrea and Densusianu point to its records in the Mulomedicina Chironis and the Latin…
fragă
It is inherited from Latin frāga (“strawberries”), the neuter plural of frāgum, taken as a feminine singular. The same reading of the plural shows in other Romance languages, but Romanian also has a…
fraged
It is inherited from Latin, but the dictionaries name two different Latin adjectives. According to DEX, MDA2, the DA, Candrea and Densusianu and CADE, it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *fragidus, a…