Romanian words from Latin
2429 Romanian words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 28).
paște
It is inherited from Latin pāscō (“to feed, pasture”). The Latin verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to protect”); de Vaan reconstructs a root *peh₂-s- (“to protect, herd”) and a present…
păstor
It is inherited from Latin pāstor (“shepherd”). The Latin noun belongs to pāscō (“to graze, to pasture”). The regular outcome of the Latin accusative would have kept a final /e/; Ciorănescu explains…
păstură
1. The word for bee bread is probably inherited from Latin pastūra (“pasture; food”), formed on pāscō (“to graze”). Ciorănescu calls the origin doubtful, because the dictionaries defined the…
pășune
It is inherited from Latin pastiō (“pasturing; pasture”). The Latin noun is formed on pāscō (“to feed, to graze”), the source of Romanian paște. The word survives in Aromanian pãshuni and…
păți
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *patīre (“to suffer”), the fourth-conjugation form that replaced the deponent verb of Classical Latin, patior (“to undergo, suffer”). De Vaan finds the origin of…
pătlagină
It is inherited from Latin plantāgō (“plantain”), through the accusative plantāginem or a form platagĭnem without the first /n/. The standard form has a metathesis of /l/ and /t/, while the regional…
patrie
It is borrowed from Latin patria (“native land”), also borrowed from French patrie, the two sources DEX, MDA2 and the DLR give. Ciorănescu names French and Italian patria, and the neologism…
patron
1. The word for the cartridge is borrowed from German Patrone (“cartridge”), according to DEX, MDA2, the DLR and Ciorănescu. For the sense “pattern, design” MDA2 and the DLR also name a French…
patru
It is inherited from Latin quattuor (“four”), reduced in popular speech to ⟨quattor⟩, the form found in inscriptions. The Latin numeral comes from Proto-Italic *kʷettwōr, from Proto-Indo-European…
pătrunde
It is inherited from Latin pertundō (“to bore through, perforate”), with the /r/ moved into the first syllable. Pușcariu (no. 1290), Candrea–Densusianu (no. 1362) and the REW list it among the…
pătură
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *pittula (“small cake”) according to DEX, MDA2, Scriban, the REW and Wiktionary, a diminutive of *pitta, which also gave pată. Pușcariu and Candrea had proposed…
păun
It is inherited from Latin pāvō, pāvōnem (“peacock”), continuing the accusative, as Ciorănescu, Pușcariu, the REW, Tiktin, DEX and MDA2 hold. Ciorănescu compares the sound development of tăun. The…
pauză
MDA2, DLR and DEX give it several sources, as with many 19th-century neologisms: it is borrowed from Latin pausa (“cessation, pause”), with French pause and German Pause beside it. Wiktionary names…
pe
It is inherited from Latin per (“through”), through the older form pre. MDA2, the DLR and DEX give Latin super (“over, above”) as well as ⟨per⟩, and Ciorănescu notes that the Romanian word has the…
pecingine
It is inherited from Latin petīgō (“scab, skin eruption”), from its accusative, a popular form of impetīgō. The Latin noun is an old word, recorded in Lucilius, beside dēpetīgō in Cato and the…
penal
It is borrowed from Latin poenālis (“of punishment, penal”), with French pénal as a second model: the dictionaries name both, the Latin and the French. Romanian dictionaries often give two sources…
pentagon
It is borrowed from French pentagone, borrowed from German Pentagon, borrowed from Latin pentagonus: DEX and the DLR name these three sources. MDA2 adds Modern Greek πεντάγωνον (pentágonon). The…
pepene
It is inherited from Latin pepo (“a kind of large melon”), through a stem in ⟨-in-⟩, Vulgar Latin *pepinem, instead of the classical stem in ⟨-ōn-⟩. REW lists such a form among the Latin glosses…
pereche
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *paricula (“pair”), the feminine of pariculus (“alike”) used as a noun, a diminutive of Latin pār (“equal”). Ciorănescu cites Diez, Pușcariu's EWRS (no. 1266)…
perete
It is inherited from Latin pariēs (“wall”), from the popular accusative ⟨parētem⟩ for classical ⟨parietem⟩. Of the sister branches, the sources give Istro-Romanian parete. The Romance cognates are…
perfect
It is a learned borrowed from Latin perfectus (“completed, perfect”) of the early 19th century, with borrowed from German perfekt as a second model in DEX, MDA2 and DLR. DER and Tiktin give the…
perfecta
It is formed from Romanian perfect + -a, a verb made on the adjective with the verb ending of the first conjugation. The DLR also takes it from the adjective. The adjective itself is from Latin…
pericol
It is borrowed from Latin perīculum (“trial; danger”), with Italian pericolo and Modern Greek περίκολον (períkolon) as further sources in MDA2, Tiktin and the Academy dictionary. DEX gives only…
periculos
It is borrowed from Latin perīculōsus (“dangerous”), with Italian pericoloso as a second model. Ciorănescu and Tiktin give only the Italian adjective, which Ciorănescu treats as the model of a…
perioadă
It is borrowed from Latin periodus, with Modern Greek περίοδος (períodos) and French période as further sources: MDA2, DEX, the DLR and Wiktionary give these three sources together. Tiktin names the…
persoană
It is borrowed from Latin persōna; MDA2 and the DLR also name French personne, German Person and Italian persona as sources. The dictionaries differ on the source: Tiktin gives New Latin alone…
personal
It is a learned borrowed from Latin persōnālis (“of a person, personal”), with the German, Italian and French words as further models: DLR and MDA2 name German personell, Personal, Italian personale…
pescar
It is inherited from Latin piscārius (“of fish; fishmonger”), formed on piscis (“fish”). The old form păscar is the regular outcome; ⟨pe-⟩ is due to the influence of pește, as in pescui. Tiktin…
pescos
It is inherited from Latin piscōsus (“teeming with fish”), formed in Latin on piscis (“fish”) with the suffix -ōsus. The DLR and MDA2 derive it instead from pește within Romanian. Tiktin explains…
pește
It is inherited from Latin piscis (“fish”), from the accusative piscem. The Latin word goes back to Proto-Indo-European *peysk- (“fish”). It survives in all four branches: Aromanian peaște…
peți
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *petiō, a popular form beside Latin petō (“to make for; to ask, request”). DEX, MDA2 and the DLR give the Latin verb alone. Ciorănescu cites Philippide, Densusianu…
petrece
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *pertrāiciō, from per- (“through”) and trāiciō (“to throw across, to cross”). Tiktin explains the form through an intermediate form with ⟨pre-⟩, like precepe from…
piatră
It is inherited from Latin petra (“stone, rock”). Latin took it late from Ancient Greek πέτρα (pétra, “rock”), whose further origin is unknown. It survives south of the Danube: Aromanian k'atră and…
picior
It is inherited from Late Latin petiolus (“little foot; stalk of a fruit”). The Latin word is a diminutive of pēs (“foot”). Wiktionary and Pușcariu start from *pediciolus, a diminutive of pedīculus…
pictură
It is a learned borrowed from Latin pictūra (“painting”). Ciorănescu treats it instead as a formation modelled on Italian pittura, within the family of the verb picta. The Latin noun is formed on…
piedică
It is inherited from Latin pedica (“fetter, snare”). The Latin noun is the feminine of an adjective formed from pēs (“foot”). It survives south of the Danube: Aromanian cheadicã (Ciorănescu writes…
piedin
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *pedinus, a derivative of pēs (“foot”), the cloth's “foot” being its lower, unwoven end. Candrea proposed it, and Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu and the REW follow…
piele
It is inherited from Latin pellem (“skin, hide”), the accusative of the Latin noun, which lives on in nearly every Romance language. The Latin word goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to cover…
piemn
According to Ciorănescu it is inherited from Latin pēgma, from Ancient Greek πῆγμα (pêgma, “anything fastened together; congealed matter”), comparing Spanish pelmazo “a compressed lump”. The Greek…
piept
It is inherited from Latin pectus (“breast, chest”). The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian cheptu, Megleno-Romanian chiept and Istro-Romanian chiept. Candrea and Densusianu thought that…
pieptăna
It is inherited from Latin pectinō (“to comb”), the verb formed in Latin on pecten (“comb”). Ciorănescu lists it among the derivatives of pieptene “comb”, from Latin pĕctĭnem, but adds that it may…
pieptene
It is inherited from Latin pecten (“comb”), in its accusative form pectinem. The word survives in all four branches of Romanian: Aromanian cheaptini, Megleno-Romanian chiaptin and Istro-Romanian…
pierde
It is inherited from Latin perdō (“to destroy, ruin; to lose”). It was formed from per- (“through, thoroughly”) and dō (“to give, put”). The verb survives in all four branches: Aromanian cherdu…
pierdere
It is the long infinitive of pierde “to lose”, used as a noun, formed from Romanian pierde + -re. The verb is from Latin perdō (“to destroy, to lose”). Gabinschi instead takes the noun itself as the…
pieri
It is inherited from Latin pereō (“to pass away, perish”). The Latin verb is formed from per- (“through”) and eō (“to go”). Ciorănescu notes that the word is in general use throughout the Romanian…
piersic
It is inherited from Latin persicus (“peach tree”), short for a Latin name meaning “Persian apple tree”, with mālus (“apple tree”). Gabinschi notes that Latin had the adjective from Greek, and that…
piersică
It is inherited from Late Latin persica, the plural (later feminine) of persicum (“peach”), short for a phrase meaning “Persian apples”; the adjective is Persicus (“Persian”). Ciorănescu instead…
piez
1. The word for the unit of pressure is borrowed from French pièze. The French word was made in 1920 from piézo- or from Ancient Greek πιέζω (piézō, “to press”), and named the unit of pressure of…
pil
Its origin is uncertain; the DLR, MDA2 and Scriban call it unknown. Ciorănescu suggests inherited from Vulgar Latin *pillum, beside Vulgar Latin *pilla, which gave piuă, in place of Latin pīla…
pin
It is inherited from Latin pīnus (“pine”). It survives south of the Danube: Aromanian chin and Megleno-Romanian pin. Its Romance cognates include Italian pino, French pin, Catalan pi, Spanish pino…
pisa
It is inherited from Latin pīnsō (“to pound, crush”), in its popular form pīsō, conjugated in the first conjugation. The Aromanian counterpart is chisedz. Its Romance cognates include French piser…
pișa
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *pissiāre (“to piss”). The Latin verb is of echoic origin. It survives as Aromanian chish. Its Romance cognates include Italian pisciare and Old French pissier.
piuă
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *pilla, a form of pīla (“mortar”). Ciorănescu writes ⟨pilla⟩ without an asterisk, as the form is found in Du Cange. Tiktin and Candrea and Densusianu take ⟨*pilla⟩…
plăcea
It is inherited from Latin placeō (“to be pleasing”). The Latin verb belongs with plācō (“to appease”), and de Vaan finds its only close relatives in Tocharian, in words for “to agree” and…
plăcintă
It is inherited from Latin placenta (“flat cake”). Ciorănescu notes that Romanian is the only Romance language to keep the word, and that the sounds of the dialects confirm the derivation. Latin had…
plămân
It is inherited from Latin pulmōnem (“lung”), through a form with metathesis, *plumonem. The same metathesis is found in Sicilian primuni and in other southern Italian dialects. The word survives in…
plămânărică
It is formed from Romanian plămân (“lung”) + -ărică, with a diminutive suffix, after the plant's use against lung diseases, as DEX and Wikționar give it. MDA2 instead forms it from Romanian…
plânge
It is inherited from Latin plangō (“to strike; to beat one's breast, lament”). It survives in all four branches: Aromanian plângu, Megleno-Romanian plǫng and Istro-Romanian plấnže. Its Romance…
plantă
It is borrowed from Latin planta (“shoot, sprout”), borrowed from French plante, as DEX, MDA2 and the neologism dictionaries state. Tiktin names Latin first, and Scriban gives Latin alone…
plântă
Tiktin takes it as borrowed from Latin planta (“sole of the foot”), a learned loan probably made by Dosoftei himself, and Scriban calls it probably a neologism of Dosoftei. Ciorănescu says it could…