Romanian words from Latin
1720 Romanian words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 4).
bătătură
It is inherited from Latin battitūra (“a beating”), as Candrea and Densusianu, CADE and DEX have it, and DELR gives this view first. Romance has the same formation: Italian battitura, French…
bate
It is inherited from Latin battuō (“to beat, strike”), in its later form battō. The verb is pan-Romance, and survives in all four branches: Aromanian bat, Megleno-Romanian bat and Istro-Romanian…
bătrân
It is inherited from Late Latin vetrānus (“old”), the syncopated form of Latin veterānus (“old, mature; veteran”), which is formed on vetus (“old”) with -ānus. The syncopated form is attested in…
băutură
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *bibitūra (“drink”), from bibitus, the participle of bibō (“to drink”). DELR gives two explanations for the Romanian ⟨u⟩: Pascu takes the Latin word as remade into…
bea
It is inherited from Latin bibō (“to drink”), a verb inherited by all the Romance languages. The Latin verb comes from Proto-Indo-European *píph₃eti (“drinks”), with its first ⟨p⟩ assimilated to the…
beat
It is inherited from Latin bibitus (“drunk”), the past participle of bibō (“to drink”). The same participle gave Spanish beodo and Portuguese bêbado. The Latin verb comes from Proto-Indo-European…
beli
It is borrowed from Old Church Slavonic бѣлити (běliti, “to whiten”), from бѣлъ (bělŭ, “white”), with a peeling sense that Bulgarian, Slovene, Slovak and Lower Sorbian share. Tiktin explains the…
berbec
It is inherited from Late Latin berbēx (“wether, ram”), the popular form of Latin vervēx, from its accusative berbēcem. The word survives in all four branches of Romanian: Aromanian birbec…
berbecar
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *berbēcārius (“shepherd of rams”), the view of Candrea and Densusianu, CADE, the REW and the DA, which DELR gives first. The DA points to Medieval Latin…
beregată
Its origin is uncertain, and the dictionaries weigh several proposals. For Pușcariu, followed by Ciorănescu and Tiktin, it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *verrūcāta (“having bumps”), formed on Latin…
beștea
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *vessīcella (“small blister”), a diminutive of Latin vēsīca (“bladder”), as Densusianu proposed and the REW and Ciorănescu accept. Wiktionary starts from a…
biet
Its origin is disputed, and DELR calls it uncertain. DELR gives two probable sources. The first is inherited from Latin viētus (“withered, shrivelled, weak”), proposed by Diez and Densusianu and…
bine
It is inherited from Latin bene (“well”), the adverb belonging to bonus (“good”) (Old Latin duenos), and it survives in all the Romance languages. The word is found in all four branches: Aromanian…
biserică
It is inherited from Latin basilica, used by the Christians for a church; in classical Latin a basilica was a large public building for courts, assemblies and trade. The Latin word is from Ancient…
blând
It is inherited from Latin blandus (“flattering, charming, seductive”). De Vaan calls the origin of the Latin word uncertain. Only nouns for a skin rash survive south of the Danube: Aromanian blãndã…
blândețe
Tiktin, the DA, CADE, Candrea–Densusianu and the REW take it as inherited from Latin blanditiēs (“blandishment, flattery”), and DELR gives this view first. Ciorănescu reports it, citing Pușcariu…
blestema
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *blastēmō (“to revile”), which DELR and MDA2 write *blastimō, an altered form of Late Latin blasphēmō (“to revile, blaspheme”). The Latin verb is from Ancient Greek…
boace
It is inherited from Latin vōx (“voice”), from its accusative vōcem, a word that survives across the Romance languages. Candrea and Densusianu start from a spoken Latin form with /b-/, *bōcem. The…
boar
It is inherited from Latin boārius (“cowherd”), also written bovārius, an adjective “of cattle” formed on bōs (“ox, cow”). Candrea and Densusianu suppose that the Latin word first gave ⟨*buariu⟩…
boare
Its origin is disputed. Most dictionaries hold that it is inherited from Latin boreās (“north wind”), which is from Ancient Greek βορέας (boréās). This is Densusianu's proposal, adopted by Pascu…
borî
Its origin is uncertain; DEX, Tiktin and the Academy dictionary call it of unknown origin. The most discussed explanation is inherited from Vulgar Latin *abhorriō (“to shrink from, loathe”), the…
boroacă
1. The word for the goby is of unknown origin. Wiktionary mentions a possible link with the homonym meaning “swelling”, but only as a conjecture. 2. The word for a swelling is probably inherited…
bot
The origin is uncertain. DELR thinks it probably from Vulgar Latin *bott- (“swollen, round object”), a base found in many Romance dialects: Italian botta (“toad”), abbottare (“to swell”), Old French…
bou
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *bovus (“ox”), a popular Latin form made on the oblique stem of bōs (accusative bovem). DELR points to the form Late Latin bobus in the Mulomedicina Chironis as…
bour
It is inherited from Latin būbalus (“wild ox, buffalo”), from Ancient Greek βούβαλος (boúbalos, “antelope, wild ox”). Romanian alone keeps the form with /b/; the other Romance languages continue the…
brace
It is inherited from Latin brācae (“breeches, trousers”), a word Latin took from Celtic. The Latin word survives in every Romance language: Italian brache, French braies, and Spanish braga and…
brăcire
It is inherited from Latin bracīle (“belt for breeches”), a derivative of brāca (“breeches”). Its only Romance cognate is Old Sardinian brakile. It survives south of the Danube as Aromanian bărțire…
brâncă
1. The word for the disease is of uncertain origin, and DEX gives it as unknown. DELR thinks it probably a substrate word and compares Albanian brengë (“swelling, sore, diphtheria; swelling on the…
braț
It is inherited from Latin brachium (“arm”), a word of every Romance language. The Latin word is from Ancient Greek βραχίων (brakhíōn), first the part of the arm between shoulder and elbow, probably…
brățară
It is inherited from Latin brachiāle (“armlet, bracelet”), a derivative of bracchium (“arm”). Its Romance cognates include Italian bracciale, Old French bracel, Spanish brazal and Portuguese braçal…
broască
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *brosca (“frog”), a spoken Latin word that Ciorănescu, DELR, the DEX, MDA2 and the DA reconstruct. DELR compares Medieval Latin bruscus, a kind of frog in Papias's…
brotac
For Ciorănescu it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *brotāchus, from Ancient Greek βροτάχος (brotákhos, “frog”), the Ionic form of βάτραχος (bátrakhos), following Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu, the REW…
brumă
It is inherited from Latin brūma (“winter solstice; winter”). The Latin word goes back to *breuima (“shortest”) (of the day), an old superlative of brevis (“short”). It survives south of the Danube…
bucă
It is inherited from Latin bucca (“puffed cheek; mouth”). De Vaan considers “cheek” the original sense of the Latin word and “mouth” a secondary, at first derogatory one; its origin is uncertain…
bucată
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *buccata (“mouthful”), a derivative of Latin bucca (“cheek; mouth”). DELR and the DA take its first sense to have been a bite of food, the same development as in…
bucea
It is inherited from Latin buccella (“little mouth; small mouthful”), a diminutive of bucca (“mouth; cheek”), the source of bucă. In Latin the word meant a small mouthful or a small loaf. Its…
bucium
It is inherited from Latin būcinum (“trumpet call; trumpet”), a by-form of būcina (“curved trumpet, horn”). Ciorănescu allows both that form and buccina, after Pușcariu, the REW and…
buciuma
It is inherited from Latin būcinō (“to blow the trumpet”), from būcina (“curved trumpet, horn”). The oldest texts have only the form ⟨bucina⟩. Wiktionary suggests that the modern form was remade…
buf
1. The word for the owl is inherited from Late Latin būfus (“owl”), a by-form of būbō, probably imitative. Nocentini takes būfō for an Osco-Umbrian variant of the classical word. It survives south…
buged
It is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *buccidus (“with puffed-up cheeks”), a form reconstructed from bucca (“cheek”). Tiktin compares the /g/ for Latin /k/ with fraged from fracidus. The Latin…
bun
It is inherited from Latin bonus (“good”), and it survives in all the Romance languages. The Latin adjective goes back to Old Latin duenos. The word is found in all four branches: Aromanian bun…
bunătate
It is inherited from Latin bonitās (“goodness”), formed from bonus (“good”) with the suffix -tās. DELR calls it panromance. It survives south of the Danube: Aromanian bunătate and Megleno-Romanian…
bunică
It is formed from Romanian bună + -ică, from the old word for a grandmother. MDA2 and Wiktionary's Romanian edition form it from bun with the same suffix, while Tiktin, the DA and the CADE make it…
burete
It is inherited from Latin bōlētus (“mushroom”), probably through a form *bōlētis, closer to Ancient Greek βωλίτης (bōlítēs). The Latin word comes from the Greek one. Another explanation, given by…
buric
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *umbulīcus, a variant of Latin umbilīcus (“navel”). The Vulgar Latin form, which many Romance dialects also require, has been explained by the influence of umbō…
ca
1. The word for “as, like” is inherited from Latin quam (“how, as, than”). It survives in all four branches as Aromanian ca, Megleno-Romanian ca and Istro-Romanian ca, and in Old Italian, Sardinian…
că
It is inherited from Latin quod (“that, because”). The conjunction survives in all four branches of Romanian: Aromanian cã, Megleno-Romanian că and Istro-Romanian ke. The Romance languages have…
căca
It is inherited from Latin cacō (“to defecate”). De Vaan calls the Latin verb a nursery word or an onomatopoeia, and compares Ancient Greek κακκάω (kakkáō). Wiktionary traces it to an imitative…
cădea
It is inherited from Late Latin cadeō (“to fall”), a second-conjugation form of Latin cadō; the verb is found in nearly every Romance language. The Latin verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱad-…
caier
Its origin is uncertain. The most widely accepted explanation is inherited from Vulgar Latin *caiulus, a diminutive reconstructed from caia (“stick, cudgel”), proposed by Densusianu and Giuglea and…
câine
It is inherited from Latin canis (“dog”). The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian câne, Megleno-Romanian cǫini and Istro-Romanian câre. Its Romance cognates include Dalmatian kuon, Italian…
cal
It is inherited from Latin caballus (“horse, workhorse”), the popular word that replaced classical equus. The Latin word was first a workhorse or gelding, and is recorded from Lucilius on. The noun…
călare
It is inherited from Late Latin caballāris (“of horses; horseman”), accusative caballārem, from Latin caballus (“horse”). Pușcariu, Tiktin and the REW started instead from caballārius (“horseman”)…
călăreț
It is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *caballāricius, a derivative of Latin caballus (“horse”), as Candrea and Densusianu proposed and DEX, MDA2 and Wiktionary accept. Candrea and Densusianu…
călcâi
It is inherited from Latin calcāneum (“heel”), from calx (“heel”). It survives south of the Danube as Aromanian cãlcãnju and Megleno-Romanian călcǫn'. Its Romance cognates include Italian calcagno…
cald
It is inherited from Latin caldus (“warm, hot”), the shortened form of calidus, an adjective of the family of caleō (“to be warm”). The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian caldu…
căldură
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *caldūra (“heat”), from Latin caldus (“warm”), the shorter form of calidus. Ciorănescu notes that Italian caldura and the Occitan form confirm the Latin word. DELR…
cale
It is inherited from Latin callis (“mountain path, track”). The Latin word meant a rough track or path; the DA glosses it “path through mountains or woods”. De Vaan links it with callum (“hard…
calendar
It is borrowed from New Latin calendārium, a learned word with several possible sources, a case of what Romanian lexicography calls multiple etymology: DELR names the Latin word, Modern Greek…
căluș
It is formed from Romanian cal + -uș, a diminutive of “horse”, literally “little horse”. Ciorănescu lists it among the derivatives of the noun for the horse, which is from Latin caballus (“horse”)…