Romanian words from Latin
2429 Romanian words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 33).
sângera
It is inherited from Latin sanguinō (“to bleed”), a verb formed on sanguis (“blood”). The Latin verb was rare and late, with the sense “to bleed, run with blood”. It survives south of the Danube…
sângeros
It is inherited from Late Latin sanguinōsus (“bloody”), formed on sanguis (“blood”). Ciorănescu lists it instead among the Romanian derivatives of sânge, and Wiktionary gives both explanations: from…
sânt
It is inherited from Latin sānctus (“holy”), the perfect passive participle of sanciō (“to consecrate”). It survives in Aromanian as sãmtu. The Romance cognates include Italian santo, French saint…
sapă
It is inherited from Late Latin sappa (“hoe, mattock”). It survives in all four branches: Aromanian sapã, Megleno-Romanian sapă and Istro-Romanian sope. Its Romance cognates include Italian zappa…
săpa
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *sappāre, a verb formed on Late Latin sappa (“mattock, hoe”). Ciorănescu lists it as a Romanian derivative of sapă “hoe”, but adds that it may come straight from…
săptămână
It is inherited from Late Latin septimāna (“week”), a Late Latin noun made from the Latin adjective septimānus (“of the number seven”), itself formed on septimus (“seventh”). The Latin adjective had…
șapte
It is inherited from Latin septem (“seven”), from Proto-Indo-European *septḿ̥ (“seven”). The numeral survives in all four branches: Aromanian shapte, Megleno-Romanian șapti and Istro-Romanian sǫpte…
săpun
It is most likely inherited from Latin sāpō (“soap”), as Pușcariu, the REW, MDA2, the DLR and Ciorănescu take it. Other routes have been proposed: Densusianu took it from Old Church Slavonic сапѹнъ…
săra
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *salāre (“to salt”), a change of conjugation of Latin saliō (“to salt”), itself formed on sāl (“salt”). MDA2, the DEX and the DLR give the etymon as Latin, and so…
sarcină
It is inherited from Latin sarcina (“pack, bundle, burden”). The Latin noun is related to sarciō (“to patch, mend”) and is traced to Proto-Indo-European *serḱ-. The word survives south of the Danube…
sare
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin sale, the popular form of sāl (“salt”). De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *sē̆h₂-l-s (“salt”) for the Latin noun. The Latin word was masculine; the Romanian…
sări
It is inherited from Latin saliō (“to jump, leap”), a verb of the fourth conjugation like its Romanian outcome. The Latin verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sl̥-ye-. The verb survives south of…
sarică
It is inherited from Late Latin sarica, a Late Latin form of sērica (“silk garments”). Tiktin cites the Medieval Latin forms sareca, saraca and sarca. Scriban explains the Latin word as the neuter…
șarpe
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *serpes, a form built on the nominative of Latin serpēns (“snake”) in place of the classical oblique stem. The Latin noun is the present participle of serpō (“to…
sărune
Ciorănescu, after Candrea, and Wiktionary take it as inherited from Vulgar Latin *salōnem, a derivative of sāl (“salt”). Ciorănescu writes the Latin form *salōnae. Tiktin connects it with the Latin…
săruta
It is inherited from Latin salūtō (“to greet”). Ciorănescu cites Pușcariu's EWRS (no. 1528), the REW, Șăineanu's semasiology and Densusianu for this etymology. DÉRom reconstructs the verb for…
șase
It is inherited from Latin sex (“six”). DEX starts from a variant Vulgar Latin *sess, and Capidan from *sesse. The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian șase, Megleno-Romanian șasi and…
sat
Its origin is disputed. The Academy dictionaries, DEX and Wiktionary take it from the old form fsat, inherited from Late Latin fossātum (“entrenchment, place enclosed by a ditch”), from fossa…
saț
Ciorănescu takes it as inherited from Latin satis (“enough”), through an unattested *satius that Meillet considered necessary to explain satietās, and compares Old French sez (“abundance”)…
satisface
It is borrowed from Latin satisfaciō (“to give satisfaction”), with French satisfaire as a second model, adapted to the conjugation of face. DEX names only Latin, and Ciorănescu only French…
sătul
It is inherited from Latin satullus (“sated, replete”), a diminutive of satur (“full, sated”). It survives in all four branches: Aromanian sãtul, Megleno-Romanian sătul and Istro-Romanian satú. Its…
sătura
It is inherited from Latin saturō (“to fill, sate”), formed on satur (“full, sated”). It survives in all four branches: Aromanian satur, Megleno-Romanian satur and Istro-Romanian sotur. Outside…
său
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *seus, which continues Latin suus (“his, her, its own”). The change of the Latin stem is explained in two ways. Densusianu, Pușcariu, Candrea and the REW took the…
scădea
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *excadeō (“to fall out”), from ex- and cadō (“to fall”), a form beside classical excidō. The word survives in Aromanian as scad. Its Romance cognates are Italian…
scai
Its origin is disputed. Ciorănescu considers it probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *squaleus (“hard, untilled, dry”), a derivative of Latin squāleō (“to be rough, be covered with a rough layer”)…
scălda
It is inherited from Late Latin excaldō (“to put in warm water”). Ciorănescu follows Diez, Pușcariu, the REW and Rosetti in this. The Latin verb is formed with ex- on caldus (“warm, hot”), the…
scamă
It is inherited from Latin squāma (“scale of a fish”), as Ciorănescu, after Pușcariu and the REW, MDA2 and the DLR state. The Latin word may be related to squālus (“filthy”). The sound shape is a…
scândură
It is inherited from Latin scandula (“shingle”). The word survives in Aromanian scãndurã and Megleno-Romanian scǫndură. Its Romance cognates include Catalan escandia, Spanish escanda and Portuguese…
scânteie
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *scantillia, a form of Latin scintilla (“spark”). The word survives south of the Danube: Aromanian scînteal'e. The vowel of the first syllable needs explaining…
scăpa
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *excappō, a verb not recorded in Latin texts. It is formed on Late Latin cappa (“cloak”) with the prefix ex- (“out”); Graur explains it as “to slip out of one's…
scăpăta
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *excapitō, a verb built on caput (“head; end”), as Ciorănescu, Tiktin, DEX, MDA2 and the DLR agree. Wiktionary notes that the attested Late Latin verb meant “to…
scară
It is inherited from Latin scāla (“ladder, stairs”). The senses of “scale” and “gamut” follow French échelle and Italian scala. The word survives south of the Danube: Aromanian scarã and…
scărmăna
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *excarminō (“to card out”), formed on carminō (“to card”) with ex-, according to Ciorănescu, Tiktin, MDA2, the REW and Candrea–Densusianu. The Latin verb comes from…
scărpina
It is inherited from Latin scarpinō (“to scratch, scrape”), a Late and Vulgar Latin verb of uncertain origin. Tiktin notes that the Romanian vowel /i/ points to a Vulgar Latin variant with a long ī…
scaun
It is inherited from Latin scamnum (“stool, bench”). The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian scamnu, Megleno-Romanian scand and Istro-Romanian scånd. Its Romance cognates include Italian…
schimba
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *excambiō (“to exchange”), from ex- (“out”) and Late Latin cambiō (“to exchange”). The Late Latin verb is of Gaulish origin. DER cites Pușcariu and the REW, and…
șchiop
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *excloppus (“lame”), formed with ex- on Late Latin cloppus (“lame”), a word recorded only in glosses. The Romanian word requires a form with ⟨s-⟩, and Ciorănescu…
șchiopa
It is either inherited from Late Latin *excloppāre (“to lame”) or a Romanian formation on șchiop “lame”. The Latin etymology, given by Tiktin and Candrea, is the one the DLR adopts. Ciorănescu lists…
șchiopăta
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *excloppitāre, from excloppus (“lame”), from cloppus. Ciorănescu takes it as probably an expressive derivative of this Latin verb, after Pușcariu and Candrea…
sclav
It is borrowed from Medieval Latin sclavus (“slave”), a learned borrowing of the modern period. DEX, MDA2 and MDN simply say Latin, and DEX and DN compare French esclave. Scriban took it from the…
scoace
It is inherited from Latin excoquō (“to boil out, cook thoroughly”), in its spoken form *excocō, as Ciorănescu, DELR, Tiktin, MDA2, the DLR and Candrea–Densusianu agree. The Latin verb is formed ex-…
scoare
It is inherited from Latin scōria (“slag”), as Ciorănescu, Pușcariu, the REW and Wiktionary agree. The Latin word is from Ancient Greek σκωρία (skōría), from σκῶρ (skôr, “dung”). It is a doublet of…
scoarță
It is inherited from Latin scortea (“a leather garment”), the feminine of scorteus (“made of skin or leather”), from scortum (“skin, hide”). Ciorănescu, after Diez, Densusianu, Pușcariu and the REW…
scoate
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *excotō (“to shake out”), a popular remodelling of Latin excutiō (“to shake out, knock out”). The Latin verb is made of ex- (“out of”) and quatiō (“to shake”). DER…
scop
It is borrowed from Modern Greek σκοπός (skopós, “aim, purpose”), a loan of the 17th century, as Ciorănescu, DEX, Tiktin and Wiktionary give it. DLR, MDA2 and NODEX add borrowed from Latin scopus…
scorbură
Ciorănescu, Tiktin, the REW and Wiktionary take it as inherited from Latin scrobis (“ditch, pit”), through a form *scorbis with the /r/ moved. The ending is explained by a Latin diminutive *scorbula…
screme
It is inherited from Latin exprimō (“to press out”), in a spoken form *expremō, as Ciorănescu, Tiktin, MDA2, the DLR and the REW agree. The Latin verb is formed ex- and premō (“to press”). It is a…
scrie
It is inherited from Latin scrībō (“to write”), a verb that survives across the Romance languages. The Latin verb first meant “to scratch, carve”, and comes from Proto-Indo-European *skreybʰ- (“to…
scriitor
It is formed from Romanian scrie (“to write”) + -tor, the agent noun of the verb. Scriban explains it through the suffix -ător, an older ⟨scriător⟩ or ⟨scrietor⟩ becoming the present form. The verb…
scriptură
It is inherited from Latin scrīptūra (“writing”). Aromanian scriptură is the same word. Its Romance cognates include Italian scrittura, French écriture, Occitan escritura, Catalan escriptura…
scroafă
It is inherited from Latin scrōfa (“sow”). Its Romance cognates include Italian scrofa, Romansh scrua and Friulian scrove. Ciorănescu also compares Modern Greek σκρόφα (skrófa). In Latin it was a…
scuipa
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *scupiō (“to spit”), as DEX, MDA2 and the DLR give it, compared with Latin expuō (“to spit out”). Ciorănescu traces it to Latin cōnspuō (“to spit upon”), with the…
scula
Its origin is disputed. According to the DLR, MDA2 and DEX (the last with “probably”), it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *excubulāre, a hunting term for driving an animal out of its lair, built on…
scurge
It is inherited from Latin excurrō (“to run out”), a compound of ex- and currō (“to run”). The inherited form was scure; like curge from cure, it was remade with a stem in -g- on the model of verbs…
scurt
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *excurtus, a by-form of curtus (“short; cut off”), which some give as the direct source. The initial /s/ is usually explained from the verb Vulgar Latin *excurtō…
scurta
It is inherited from Late Latin excurtō (“to shorten”), a late and popular Latin verb. The Latin verb is formed from ex- and curtō (“to shorten”) and occurs in the Lex Salica and the Lex…
scut
It is inherited from Latin scūtum (“shield”). Its Romance cognates include Logudorese iskudu, Catalan escut, French écu, Spanish escudo and Portuguese escudo; Italian scudo came from Occitan escut…
scutura
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *excutulō (“to shake out”), a verb formed on Latin excutiō (“to shake out, knock out”). Meyer, Candrea, Pușcariu, Tiktin and the REW all derive it this way…
se
It is inherited from Latin sē (“himself, herself, themselves”), which every Romance language kept. The pronoun survives as Aromanian se. Its Romance cognates include Italian si, French se, Occitan…
seară
It is inherited from Late Latin sēra (“evening”), a Late Latin noun shortened from the phrase sēra diēs (“late day”), with the feminine of Latin sērus (“late”). The adjective goes back to…