Romanian words from Latin
2429 Romanian words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 24).
miracol
It is borrowed from Latin mīrāculum (“a marvel, a wonder”), with Italian miracolo and French miracle as further models. Tiktin names Latin and Italian, Wiktionary Italian or French. An older form…
mire
Its origin is disputed. The view most often given is that it is inherited from Latin mīles (“soldier”), held by P. Papahagi, Tiktin, Meyer-Lübke and Rosetti and given by MDA2 and Wiktionary. Tiktin…
mișca
Its origin is unclear: DEX and DLR call it of unknown origin, and Tiktin an inherited word whose source is obscure. Megleno-Romanian has the verb micicari. DER thinks it likely comes from mĭscīre…
mișel
It is inherited from Latin misellus (“poor, wretched”), the diminutive of miser (“wretched”). The Latin adjective meant “poor, pitiable” in Cicero's letters and Catullus. Candrea and Densusianu take…
misiune
It is borrowed from French mission, borrowed from Latin missiō (“a sending”), as DEX and Wiktionary give it. MDA2 and DLR add borrowed from Italian missione and the Russian миссия (missija). DN…
mister
It is borrowed from French mystère, also borrowed from Latin mystērium, as DEX and MDA2 give it; MDA2 adds Modern Greek μυστήριον (mystírion). The DLR derives the word from French, the older…
mistreț
It is inherited from Late Latin mixticius (“of mixed breed”), formed on Latin mixtus (“mixed”), the past participle of misceō (“to mix”). Wiktionary notes that the Latin word occurs in Jerome and…
mișuna
Its origin is disputed. In the view of Candrea and Densusianu it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *messiōnō (“to reap, to harvest”), formed on messiō (“harvesting, reaping”), which they compare with…
miță
In most accounts it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *agnicius (“of a lamb”), formed on agnus (“lamb”). Scriban starts from *lāna agnicia (“lamb's wool”), which he thinks became ⟨*amniță⟩ and then…
mizerabil
It is borrowed from French misérable. In the neologism dictionaries it is also borrowed from Latin miserābilis (“pitiable”), and Scriban and Graur derive it from the Latin word alone. French…
mizerie
It is borrowed from Latin miseria (“wretchedness, misfortune”) and in part borrowed from French misère, a 19th-century neologism with two models, as DEX, DLR and DILF give it. MDA2 also names both…
moale
It is inherited from Latin mollis (“soft”). The Latin adjective goes back through Proto-Italic to Proto-Indo-European *ml̥dus (“soft, weak”); de Vaan explains it as an old u-stem remade into an…
moară
It is inherited from Latin mola (“millstone; mill”). The Latin word comes from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to grind, crush”). It survives south of the Danube: Aromanian moarã and Megleno-Romanian…
moarte
It is inherited from Latin mors (“death”), through its accusative. The Latin noun comes from Proto-Indo-European *mértis (“death”), from *mer- (“to die”), and is related to morior (“to die”). The…
mobil
It is borrowed from French mobile, with Latin mōbilis (“movable”) as a second source in DEX, MDA2 and the DLR; the neologism dictionaries add Italian mobile. The adjective is formed from Latin moveō…
mobilă
It is borrowed from French meuble, with Italian mobilia and German Möbel as further models: DEX, MDA2, the DLR and Tiktin name the three languages together. The neologism dictionaries compare mobile…
mod
It is borrowed from Latin modus (“measure; manner, way”). MDA2 and the DLR give Latin, Italian modo and French mode together, Wiktionary French alone, and Tiktin says the Latin word came by several…
modest
It is borrowed from Latin modestus (“moderate, restrained”), with French modeste and Italian modesto as further models, according to DEX, MDA2 and the DLR. Tiktin names only the Italian and French…
modifica
It is a learned borrowed from Latin modificō (“to regulate, to measure out”). The dictionaries name further models beside the Latin verb: MDA2 compares French modifier, the DN gives Latin and…
moleață
The Academy dictionaries derive it from Romanian moale + -eață. moale is from Latin mollis (“soft”). Candrea and Densusianu instead took it from Latin mollitia (“softness”), with Italian mollezza…
molicel
DEX and Wikționar derive it from Romanian moale + -icel, with the feminines in -icea and -icică. moale is from Latin mollis (“soft”). Pușcariu and Scriban took it from Latin mollicellus (“soft…
moment
It is borrowed from Latin mōmentum, with French moment, Italian momento and German Moment as further models, as MDA2, the DLR, DEX and Marcu give it, a word with several sources. Tiktin names the…
momentan
It is borrowed from Latin mōmentāneus (“momentary, of brief duration”), borrowed from Italian momentaneo, borrowed from French momentané, borrowed from German momentan: a neologism with several…
monstru
It is borrowed from Latin monstrum (“portent, monster”) or French monstre: DEX 2009, the DLR and NODEX put Latin first, MDA2 and MDN French, and DN compares both. Tiktin gives Latin and Ciorănescu…
moral
It is borrowed from Latin mōrālis (“relating to manners, moral”), a learned loan, and was also borrowed from French moral, as DEX, MDA2, the DLR and the neologism dictionaries give it. DER names…
morală
It is borrowed from French morale. It is also borrowed from Latin mōrālis (“moral”): DEX, NODEX, MDA2 and the DLR name both sources, Tiktin, MDN and Wiktionary only French. The French noun is the…
morar
It is formed from Romanian moară + -ar. moară is from Latin mola (“millstone, mill”). Pușcariu and Candrea and Densusianu took it straight from Latin molārius (“of a mill”), and MDA2, Tiktin…
mormânt
It is inherited from Latin monumentum (“memorial, monument; tomb”), or its variant monimentum. The Latin noun is formed on moneō (“to remind”) with the suffix -mentum. The /r/ is explained by…
mort
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *mortus, from Latin mortuus (“dead”), the participle of morior (“to die”). The Latin word goes back to Proto-Indo-European *mr̥twós (“dead”), from *mer- (“to die”)…
mortăciune
It is inherited from Latin morticīna (“carrion”), the feminine of morticīnus (“of an animal that died, dead”), used as a noun. Scriban explains the noun by an implied caro (“flesh”). The ending…
mortal
It is a 19th-century neologism, borrowed from Latin mortālis (“subject to death; deadly”), also borrowed from Italian mortale. MDA2 and the DLR give Latin and compare Italian and French mortel…
muc
It is inherited from Latin mūcus (“mucus, snot”) or a variant of it, but the sources differ on the path. DEX takes the singular as remade from the plural muci, from the plural mucci of the variant…
muced
It is inherited from Latin mūcidus (“mouldy, musty”). The Latin adjective also meant “snivelling” in Plautus, and is formed on mūceō (“to be musty”). Tiktin also gives muccidus. The Romance cognates…
muchie
It is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *mutila, a form of Latin mutulus (“corbel, rafter-head”). Tiktin derives it straight from the Latin noun, and the REW gives the Latin word the further…
mucoare
It is inherited from Latin mucor (“mould, mustiness”), continued from its accusative mūcōrem. The Latin noun is formed on mūceō (“to be mouldy”) with the suffix -or. Candrea and Densusianu record…
mucos
It is formed from Romanian muc + -os, as DEX, MDA2, the DLR and Tiktin give it. Candrea–Densusianu and Pușcariu took it instead from Latin muccōsus (“snotty”), and Ciorănescu agrees that it may…
mugi
It is inherited from Latin mūgiō (“to low, bellow”). DER cites Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu and the REW for this etymology. It survives as Aromanian mudzescu too. Romance cognates are Italian…
muiere
It is inherited from Latin mulier (“woman”), from its oblique form mulierem. Ciorănescu cites Rosetti for the shift of stress. The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian muljari…
mulge
It is inherited from Latin mulgeō (“to milk”). DER and Wiktionary derive it from the popular infinitive of the third conjugation, *mulgĕre, which replaced the classical second-conjugation…
mult
It is inherited from Latin multus (“much, many”). Wiktionary takes the Latin word from Proto-Indo-European *ml̥tos (“crumbled, crumpled”); de Vaan reconstructs a Proto-Italic stem and only…
muncel
It is inherited from Late Latin monticellus (“hillock”), a diminutive of Latin mōns (“mountain”). DER cites Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu and the REW for this etymology. Romance cognates include…
muniție
It is borrowed from German Munition, borrowed from Latin mūnītiō, borrowed from French munition: DEX, MDA2 and the DLR give all three, an etymology of several sources. Tiktin names German and…
munte
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…
mur
1. The word for the blackberry bush is inherited from Latin mōrus (“mulberry tree”). Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu and the REW give the same etymon. The Latin word is compared with Ancient Greek…
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…
muri
It is inherited from Latin morior (“to die”). Romanian continues the fourth-conjugation infinitive ⟨morīrī⟩, which Plautus, Ennius and Terence use beside the classical ⟨morī⟩. The word survives in…
murseca
It is inherited from Latin morsicō (“to bite repeatedly, nibble”), following Pușcariu and Candrea–Densusianu. The Latin verb is formed on morsus (“bitten”), the participle of mordeō (“to bite”). The…
muscă
It is inherited from Latin musca (“fly”), a word inherited by the whole Romance family. De Vaan relates the Latin word to Ancient Greek μυῖα (muîa, “fly”), Old Church Slavonic моуха (muxa) and…
mușca
Its origin is uncertain: DEX, MDA2 and the DLR call it of unknown origin. The proposals start from the old and dialect form mucica. For Tiktin and Capidan it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *muccicō…
mușchi
1. The word for the moss is inherited from Vulgar Latin *mūsculus, a diminutive of Latin mūscus (“moss”) not recorded in Latin. Wiktionary gives the syncopated *mūsclus. The same diminutive is…
mușchios
1. The word for mossy is formed from Romanian mușchi (“moss”) + -os. The noun is from Vulgar Latin *musculus, a diminutive of muscus (“moss”) that is not attested. The same formation is Aromanian…
must
It is inherited from Latin mustum (“new wine, must”). Candrea and Densusianu give the same etymon. It survives south of the Danube as Aromanian mustu and Megleno-Romanian most. Albanian mušt is also…
mustață
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *mustacea, from Ancient Greek μύσταξ (mústax, “upper lip, moustache”). Wiktionary starts from Medieval Latin mustācium, recorded in the plural ⟨mustācia⟩ in a…
mustos
It is formed from Romanian must (“must, grape juice”) + -os. The noun is from Latin mustum. The REW instead derives the adjective directly from Vulgar Latin *mustōsus, and Ciorănescu reports that…
mustra
It is inherited from Latin mōnstrō (“to show, point out”), as Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu and the REW give it. The Latin verb is formed on mōnstrum (“sign, portent”). The Romance cognates keep the…
mut
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…
muta
It is inherited from Latin mūtō (“to change, to move”), continued across the Romance languages. It survives south of the Danube: Aromanian mut and Megleno-Romanian mut. The Romance cognates include…
muzeu
It is borrowed from Latin mūsēum, German Museum and French musée, a learned borrowing with several models in DEX and Marcu, and MDA2 and the DLR add Modern Greek μουσεῖον (mouseíon). Tiktin gives…
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…
muzical
It is borrowed from French musical. Scriban also names Italian musicale. The French adjective is from Medieval Latin mūsicālis. By its form it matches from Romanian muzică + -al.