Romanian words from Latin
2429 Romanian words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 25).
naie
Ciorănescu takes it as inherited from Latin nāvis (“ship”), from the accusative, following Pușcariu and the REW. Wiktionary also has it inherited. DLR, MDA2 and DLRM instead treat it as a learned…
nalbă
It is inherited from Latin malva (“mallow”). Latin initial /m/ became /n/ by dissimilation from the second labial, as in furnică and năframă. The same change appears in Venetian nalba and Sardinian…
nămaie
It is inherited from Latin animālia (“animals”), the plural of animal (“living creature, animal”). The Latin noun is formed on anima (“breath, soul”). The word survives south of the Danube…
nap
It is inherited from Latin nāpus (“turnip”). The Latin word is an adaptation of Ancient Greek νᾶπυ (nâpu, “mustard”). It also survives as Istro-Romanian nǫp. Its Romance cognates include Italian…
nară
It is inherited from Latin nāris (“nostril; nose”). The Latin word is related to nāsus (“nose”), with /s/ turned to /r/ between vowels, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *Hneh₂-s- (“nose”). It…
nas
It is inherited from Latin nāsus (“nose”). It survives as Megleno-Romanian nas and Istro-Romanian nǫs. In Aromanian the nose is nare, and the cognate only names the pointed tip of a sandal. Its…
naște
It is inherited from Late Latin nāscere (“to be born”), the active form that replaced the classical deponent nāscor. The Latin verb goes back to Proto-Italic and to the root Proto-Indo-European…
năsut
MDA2, DEX and DLR take it as inherited from Latin nāsūtus (“having a long nose; witty”). Pușcariu, Candrea and Densusianu and the REW give the same etymon, and compare Italian nasuto, Logudorese…
nat
It is inherited from Latin nātus (“born; a son”), the past participle of nāscor (“to be born”). Ciorănescu compares the Latin plural in the sense “offspring”, as opposed to the parents. Wiktionary…
național
It is borrowed from New Latin nātiōnālis and French national, a neologism of the late 18th century. Tiktin names the same two sources. Scriban and the neologism dictionaries add Italian nazionale as…
națiune
It is borrowed from Latin nātiō (“birth, people”), with French nation and Italian nazione, a case of multiple etymology. MDA2 and DLR name German Nation instead of Italian, and DEX and DLR add…
natură
It is borrowed from Latin nātūra (“birth; nature”), taken in the 18th century, and later also borrowed from French nature. MDA2 and the DLR name Latin, Italian natura, French and German Natur…
natural
It is borrowed from Latin nātūrālis (“natural, by birth”), borrowed from Italian naturale, borrowed from French naturel: a multiple source of Romanian lexicography: DEX and the DLR name all three…
nea
It is inherited from Latin nix (“snow”), from the accusative nivem. The Latin word goes back to Proto-Indo-European *snígʷʰs (“snow”). The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian neao…
nebun
It is from Romanian ne- + bun (“good”): the negative prefix added to the adjective, so that its first meaning was “not good, bad”. bun is from Latin bonus (“good”). Șăineanu explained the shift to…
necesita
It is borrowed from French nécessiter (“to necessitate”). Marcu and Maneca add Italian necessitare, and the DLR compares the Italian participle necessitato for the old sense “obliged”. The French…
nefericire
It is formed from Romanian ne- + fericire (“happiness”), the negative of the noun. Ciorănescu lists this noun and the verb ferici among the derivatives of ferice “happy”, which is from Latin fēlīx…
neg
It is inherited from Latin naevus (“mole, birthmark”). Its cognates include Italian neo (“mole”) and the Sienese form niego. The ⟨g⟩ is unexpected; Tiktin and Ciorănescu compare fagure, negură, rug…
nega
It is borrowed from Latin negō (“to say no, deny”), a learned borrowing of the 19th century. The Latin verb lives on in the other Romance languages as Italian negare, French nier and Spanish negar…
neghină
Its origin is uncertain: DEX, DLR and MDA2 call it of unknown origin. Pușcariu, Tiktin and the REW take it as inherited from Vulgar Latin *nigellīna, through a form *niglīna, built on Late Latin…
negoț
It is inherited from Latin negōtium (“business, occupation”). The Latin noun is formed from nec (“not”) and ōtium (“leisure”). The REW lists the Romanian word with Occitan neotz. Pascu proposed a…
negreață
It is inherited from Latin nigritia (“blackness”), or a derivative from Romanian negru + -eață: DEX, DLR and MDA2 give both explanations. Tiktin, Pușcariu, Candrea and Densusianu and the REW take…
negru
It is inherited from Latin niger (“black, dark”), from its accusative nigrum. De Vaan considers the origin of the Latin word unknown. The word survives in all four branches of Romanian: Aromanian…
negură
It is inherited from Latin nebula (“mist, fog”). The Latin noun goes back to *nebʰ-e-lo- (“small cloud”), with cognates such as Ancient Greek νεφέλη (nephélē, “cloud”). The /g/ for Latin /b/ needs…
negustor
Its origin is disputed. DEX and the DLR give two sources: it is either inherited from Latin negōtiātōrius or formed from Romanian neguța (“to trade”) + -tor. MDA2 compares the same Latin word, and…
neguța
Pușcariu, Candrea and Densusianu take it as inherited from Vulgar Latin *negōtiāre, the active form of negōtior (“to do business, trade”); Ciorănescu derives it instead from Romanian negoț. DEX, DLR…
nepoată
It is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *nepōta (“granddaughter, niece”), a feminine of Latin nepōs (“grandson, nephew”), whose accusative nepōtem gave nepot. Tiktin explains that the Latin noun…
nepot
It is inherited from Latin nepōs (“grandson; nephew; descendant”), continued in its accusative nepōtem. Tiktin derives it more exactly from a Vulgar Latin *nepōtus, split off from the Latin noun…
neregulă
It is formed from Romanian ne- + regulă (“rule”), the negative of the noun. Regulă is a learned borrowing from Latin regula (“rule”).
nerv
It is borrowed from Latin nervus (“sinew, nerve”), a learned word, with Italian nervo and French nerf as further models. Ciorănescu dates the Latin loan to the 19th century. The old form nevru has…
nervos
It is borrowed from Latin nervōsus (“sinewy, vigorous”), Italian nervoso or French nerveux, the three sources of DEX, the DLR and MDA2. Tiktin gives the Latin and Italian words, Marcu the Latin and…
nestimat
Ciorănescu explains it as the Romanian negative prefix ne- with inherited from Latin aestimātus (“valued, assessed”), the participle of aestimō (“to value, estimate”), following Tiktin and Pascu…
neștine
It is inherited from Latin nesciō (“I do not know”) in a Latin phrase meaning “I don't know who”. DEX, MDA2 and DLR analyse it as the verb with quī (“who”) and -ne. Tiktin and Scriban start from…
neted
It is inherited from Latin nitidus (“shining, bright, polished”). Its Romance cognates include Italian netto, Sardinian nidu, French net, Catalan net and Portuguese nedeo. The Latin adjective is…
nicăieri
It is inherited from Latin nec aliubi (“nor elsewhere”), from nec (“nor, and not”) and aliubi (“elsewhere”), according to Pușcariu, Pascu, Tiktin and DEX. The adverb aiurea continues that Latin…
nici
It is inherited from Latin neque (“and not, nor”). Old Romanian wrote it ⟨nece⟩, as Scriban and Șăineanu note. The Latin word is nē (“not”) with -que (“and”). It continues Proto-Indo-European *nékʷe…
nicicând
It is a compound from Romanian nici (“not even”) + când (“when”). Ciorănescu lists it among the compounds of the negative. The first part is from Latin neque (“and not”) and the second quandō…
nimeni
It is inherited from Latin nēmō (“nobody”), from its accusative nēminem. The Latin word is a contraction of an Old Latin phrase meaning no man, from nē (“not”) and the old form of homō (“man”)…
nimic
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *nemīca (“nothing”), formed of ne- (“not”) and Latin mīca (“grain, crumb”). Its Romance cognates include Venetian nemiga, Old French nemie and Italian mica…
ninge
It is inherited from Latin ningō (“to snow”), whose infinitive the dictionaries cite. The Latin verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sneygʷʰ- (“to snow”). Ciorănescu compares a Calabrian word for…
niscai
It is inherited from Latin nesciō quālis (“I do not know of what kind”), from nesciō (“I do not know”) and quālis (“of what kind”). CADE and Wiktionary give the accusative nesciō quālem. Pușcariu…
niște
It is inherited from Latin nesciō quid (“I don't know what”), from nesciō (“I don't know”) and quid (“what”). The same first element is in neștine “someone”, niscai “some” and nescît “a little”. It…
noadă
DEX and MDA2 have it inherited from Vulgar Latin *noda, and the DLR, after Candrea and Densusianu, explains that form as a singular made from the plural of nōdum, the neuter beside nōdus (“knot”)…
noapte
It is inherited from Latin nox (“night”), continuing the accusative ⟨noctem⟩. The Latin word goes back to Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts (“night”). The word survives in all four branches of Romanian…
noaten
It is inherited from Latin annōtinus (“a year old, of last year”), from annus (“year”). Ciorănescu cites Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu and the REW. It survives in all four branches: Aromanian noaten…
nobil
It is borrowed from Latin nōbilis (“known, famous; noble”), with the model of German nobel, Italian nobile and French noble, a case of the multiple etymology of Romanian lexicography. Ciorănescu…
nod
It is inherited from Latin nōdus (“knot”). It survives in Aromanian nod and Megleno-Romanian nod, and has Romance cognates such as Italian nodo, Spanish nudo and Portuguese nó. The origin of the…
noi
It is inherited from Latin nōs (“we, us”). The final /i/ is explained in different ways. Candrea and Densusianu see a regular change of final /s/ to /i/ in stressed monosyllables, as in trei and…
nor
It is inherited from Latin nūbilum (“cloudy sky”), the noun use of the neuter of nūbilus (“cloudy”), from nūbēs (“cloud”). The Latin noun is traced to Proto-Indo-European *(s)newdʰ- (“to cover”)…
noră
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *norus, the popular form of Latin nurus (“daughter-in-law”). The DEX, MDA2, the DLR and Tiktin give the Classical form as the etymon. The vowel /o/ for Latin /u/ is…
normă
It is borrowed from French norme and directly borrowed from Latin norma (“carpenter's square; rule”), as DEX, MDA2 and Wikționar give it. DEX and MDA2 also name Russian норма (norma) as a model, and…
nostru
It is inherited from Latin noster (“our”), feminine nostra. It survives in all four branches: Aromanian nostru, Megleno-Romanian nostru and Istro-Romanian nostru. Its Romance cognates include…
notă
It is borrowed from Latin nota (“mark, sign”) together with French note and Italian nota, an etymology with several sources, as MDA2, DLR and Tiktin give it. Ciorănescu and Wiktionary name French…
nou
It is inherited from Latin novus (“new”), which comes from Proto-Indo-European *néwos (“new”). De Vaan lists cognates across Indo-European, among them Ancient Greek νέος (néos), Sanskrit नव (náva)…
nouă
It is inherited from Latin novem (“nine”). The Latin numeral continues Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥. It survives in Aromanian noauã and Megleno-Romanian noauă. Its Romance cognates include Italian…
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…
nu
It is inherited from Latin nōn (“not”), the Latin negation that survives in most Romance languages. Candrea and Densusianu explain the form by the two ways Latin used the word in the sentence…
nuc
Ciorănescu, Tiktin and Wiktionary have it inherited from Latin nux (“nut”). Ciorănescu cites Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu and the REW. In the Romance languages the Latin word names the fruit…
nucă
It is inherited from Latin nux (“nut”), as the DEX, MDA2 and the DLR give it. Tiktin explains that Romanian split the Latin noun into a masculine *nucus for the tree and a feminine *nuca for the…
nucet
It is inherited from Latin nucētum (“nut grove”), as MDA2, DEX, Tiktin and Scriban give it. Pușcariu, Candrea and Densusianu and the REW also take it from Latin, and the REW lists Italian noceto and…