Romanian words from Latin
1986 Romanian words with Latin in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 9).
defaimă
It is either inherited from Vulgar Latin *diffāmia (“defamation”), formed like Latin īnfāmia (“disgrace”), or a back-formation from Romanian defăima. Pușcariu, Rosetti, Candrea and Densusianu…
defăima
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *diffāmiāre (“to defame”), a form of Latin diffāmō (“to spread a report; to defame”) with an /i/ taken from a noun *diffāmia, itself modelled on īnfāmia…
deget
It is inherited from Latin digitus (“finger, toe”), a word kept by all the Romance languages. The Romanian plural continues a Latin plural digita. Pușcariu explains the dialect forms with /dz/ and…
degetar
Most Romanian dictionaries explain it as formed from Romanian deget (“finger”) + -ar, with the same suffix as ștergar and cordar. Pușcariu, Candrea and Densusianu, CADE and Giuglea take it instead…
dehoca
Its origin is uncertain. The usual explanation is inherited from Vulgar Latin *dēvocāre (“to empty out”), with the old Latin vowel /o/ of Latin vocō for vacō (“to be empty”) (as in vocuus for…
dejuga
DEX, Tiktin and CADE take it as inherited from Vulgar Latin *disiugāre (“to unyoke”), formed dis- and iugō (“to yoke”), the verb of iugum (“yoke”). MDA2 names instead the Latin disiungō (“to…
depăna
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *dēpānāre (“to wind off”), formed dē- and pānus (“thread wound on a bobbin”). Ciorănescu writes the Latin form *dēpēnāre and lists Körting, Densusianu, Pușcariu…
depinde
It is borrowed from French dépendre, also borrowed from Latin dēpendeō (“to hang from; to depend on”) as a learned word, as DELR, MDA2, DEX 2009 and the DLR give it. Tiktin names only the Latin, and…
depozit
It is a learned borrowed from Latin dēpositum (“something deposited, a trust”), the neuter of the past participle of dēpōnō (“to put down, lay aside”), itself from pōnō (“to put”). In Latin the noun…
deprinde
It is inherited from Latin dēprehendō (“to seize, catch; to discover”), a compound of dē- and prehendō (“to grasp, seize”). DELR and MDA2 write the etymon with the contracted form, Latin dēprendō…
depune
It is borrowed from Latin dēpōnō (“to put down, lay aside; to deposit”), a learned loan adapted to the inherited verb pune, with some senses after French déposer. Ciorănescu likewise says that all…
deretica
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *dēradicō (“to uproot”), formed on rādīx (“root”) like ērādicō (“to uproot”), which gave ridica. The sense moved from “to uproot” to “to remove”, then to “to clean…
des
It is inherited from Latin dēnsus (“dense; frequent”), from Proto-Indo-European *dens- (“thick, dense”). Latin /ns/ lost its nasal, as Pușcariu's etymon shows. The word survives south of the Danube…
descălța
DER, MDA2 and DEX take it as inherited from Late Latin discalceō (“to take off shoes”), from dis- and calceō (“to shoe”), or from the parallel disculceō; DER notes that both are attested…
descânta
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *discantō, from dis- and cantō (“to sing; to chant a spell”). It survives south of the Danube: Aromanian discãntu and Megleno-Romanian discǫnt. Its Romance…
descărca
It is inherited from Late Latin discarricō (“to unload”), a verb formed on carricō (“to load”) with the prefix dis-. The latter goes back to Latin carrus (“wagon”), a word of Gaulish origin. DER and…
descheia
DELR, MDA2 and DEX take it from Latin, as inherited from Vulgar Latin *disclāvō, from dis- and clāvō (“to nail”), from clāvus (“nail”). The Latin noun was in origin closely tied to clāvis (“key”)…
deschide
It is inherited from Latin disclūdō (“to separate, shut off”), formed with dis- on claudō (“to shut”). The Latin consonant group /skl/ regularly gave /ʃkʲ/, so the inherited form is ⟨deșchide⟩…
descinge
DELR, MDA2, DEX and the DLR take it as inherited from Latin discingō (“to ungird”), from dis- and cingō (“to gird”). DELR compares Italian discingere, Old French déceindre, Occitan descenher…
descoperi
It is inherited from Late Latin discooperiō (“to uncover”), also written discoperiō. The Latin verb is formed with dis- on cooperiō (“to cover”), itself from co- and operiō (“to close, to cover”)…
descrie
It is borrowed from French décrire, adapted to the Romanian verb scrie (“to write”), which gave it its conjugation. DELR names borrowed from Latin dēscrībō (“to copy; to draw; to describe”) as a…
descuia
DELR and DEX take it as inherited from Latin discuneō, a verb attested in Latin only in its participle discuneātus, from dis- and cuneō (“to split or wedge with a wedge”), from cuneus (“wedge…
desculț
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *disculceus, a form of disculceātus (“barefoot”). Wiktionary explains the Vulgar Latin form as a shortening of the Late Latin adjective or as a *discalceus, formed…
deșert
It is inherited from Latin dēsertus (“abandoned, deserted”), the past participle of dēserō (“to abandon”), first “to detach”, a compound of serō (“to join, string together”). The word survives in…
deșerta
It is a verb from Romanian deșert (“empty, deserted”). The adjective is from Latin dēsertus (“deserted, abandoned”). Pușcariu and Candrea–Densusianu derived the verb directly from Late Latin dēsertō…
desface
It is inherited from Latin disfaciō (“to undo”), from dis- and faciō (“to make, do”), according to MDA2, Candrea–Densusianu and Wiktionary. Ciorănescu allows the Latin verb but thinks it more likely…
desfășa
DEX and MDA2 take it from Latin, as inherited from Vulgar Latin *disfasciō, from dis- and fasciō (“to swathe”), from fascia (“band, bandage”). Aromanian disfash has the same origin according to…
deșidera
It is inherited from Latin dēsīderō (“to long for, to desire”). DELR notes that the Latin verb was probably formed, like cōnsīderō, on sīdus (“star, constellation”), though how the sense developed…
despărți
It is inherited from Latin dispartiō (“to divide, distribute”), a variant of dispertiō remade on pars (“part”); DELR notes that the variant is recorded in Latin glossaries. DEX and Romanian…
despica
It is inherited from Latin dēspicō (“to cut open an animal, to gut”). DELR notes that the REW finds the word only in Romanian, and that Italian dispiccare, which Densusianu compared, cannot go back…
despuia
It is inherited from Latin dēspoliō (“to rob, to plunder”), from spoliō (“to plunder, to strip a beaten enemy”), from spolium (“skin stripped from an animal; spoils”). Tiktin, DER and DEX give the…
despune
It is inherited from Latin dispōnō (“to set in order, to arrange; to decide”), from dis- and pōnō (“to put”). The REW lists Old French despondre and Occitan desponre beside it. It is a doublet of…
deștepta
Its Latin source is disputed. Ciorănescu, the DLR and DEX 2009 take it as inherited from Latin dispectō (“to consider, examine”), a frequentative of dispiciō (“to look about, discern”), which is…
deștinge
It is inherited from Latin dēscendō (“to come down, descend”), formed from dē- and scandō (“to climb”). Its Romance cognates include Italian descendere, French descendre and Spanish descender. The…
destul
It is formed from Romanian de + sătul (“full, sated”), a phrase that became one word. In the phrase the adjective is used as a noun, “satiety, plenty”, a use kept in old phrases meaning “to one's…
destupa
It is formed from Romanian des- + astupa, the prefix taking the place of the ⟨a-⟩ of the verb it undoes. astupa is from Vulgar Latin *adstuppō, from stuppa (“tow”). Ciorănescu also considers a Latin…
deține
It is borrowed from French détenir, adapted to the conjugation of ține; for the sense “to detain” DELR and MDA2 name borrowed from Latin dētineō (“to hold back, detain”) as a second source. Tiktin…
detuna
It is inherited from Latin dētonō (“to thunder down”), formed from dē- and tonō (“to thunder”). The REW takes it as a neologism, but Ciorănescu points out that this holds only for the sense “to…
deveni
It is borrowed from French devenir (“to become”), the source that DEX, DELR, the DLR, Tiktin and the neologism dictionaries name. According to MDA2 and Wiktionary it is also borrowed from Latin…
devota
It is a neologism, and the dictionaries name different sources. DEX 2009 and the DILF give borrowed from Latin dēvōtō as well as French dévouer (“to devote”). Ciorănescu, Tiktin and the DN give…
dezbina
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *disglūtinō (“to unglue”), from glūtinō (“to glue”), from glūten (“glue”). DELR traces the sound changes to the old form dejghina, with /ɡʎu/ > /ɡʎi/ as in înghiți…
dezbrăca
It is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *disbracō, a verb formed in Latin on brāca (“breeches”). Candrea and Densusianu took it straight from Latin in this way. DELR calls it instead a very old…
dezlega
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin disligō (“to untie”), formed from dis- (“apart”) and ligō (“to tie, bind”). The REW gives the Latin verb as a reconstruction. Wiktionary notes that it is attested…
dezvoalbe
It is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *disvolvō, from volvō (“to roll, to unroll”) with dis-, according to the Lexicon de la Buda, Hasdeu, Candrea and Densusianu, CADE and Scriban as DELR lists…
diferență
It is borrowed from Latin differentia (“difference, diversity”), also borrowed from French différence. DELR adds German Differenz and possibly Italian differenza; Tiktin takes it from New Latin…
dimineață
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *demanitia, built on the adverbial phrase Late Latin dē māne (“early in the morning”), from dē and māne (“morning; in the morning”). Candrea and Densusianu and the…
dinioare
It is inherited from Latin dē ūnā hōrā (“from one hour”), according to DEX, MDA2 and Wiktionary. Ciorănescu lists adinioare and its shorter form among the modern variants of odinioară (“once…
dinte
It is inherited from Latin dēns (“tooth”), continued in the accusative form ⟨dentem⟩, a word found in every Romance language. Latin had it from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts (“tooth”); its cognates…
director
The noun is borrowed from New Latin director, the Latin agent noun of dīrigō (“to direct, guide”), which arose in Late Latin and took on its administrative sense in Medieval Latin; DELR adds that it…
discurs
It is borrowed from French discours, with New Latin discursus as a second source in DELR, DEX and MDA2. The early variant ⟨discors⟩ is borrowed from Italian discorso. Latin discursus meant “running…
discuta
It is borrowed from French discuter, one of the French loans of the 19th century. The French verb is from Latin discutiō, whose sense moved from “to shatter, scatter” to “to search through” and, in…
distanță
It is borrowed from Latin distantia, a learned loan, together with borrowed from French distance. Marcu and Maneca also name Italian distanza, which Tiktin gives as the only source. The Latin noun…
distracție
It is borrowed from French distraction, also borrowed from Latin distractio (“a pulling apart, separation”). DELR, which lists it in the family of distra, gives only French, while Tiktin derives it…
doagă
It is inherited from Late Latin doga, a Late Latin word for a vessel or measure for liquids. Its further origin is uncertain: it is perhaps from Ancient Greek δοχή (dokhḗ, “receptacle”), from…
doamnă
It is inherited from Late Latin domna, the syncopated form of Latin domina (“mistress of a household”), the feminine of dominus (“master”). The short form ⟨domna⟩ already appears in Latin…
doar
Its origin is not certain. DELR, MDA2, DEX and the DLR hold that it is probably inherited from Latin dē hōrā (“from the hour”), that is dē and hōra (“hour”), or, as a Romanian formation, de and…
doctor
It is borrowed from Latin doctor (“teacher”), in the Medieval Latin sense of one entitled by his studies to teach at a university. The sense “physician” is a narrowing of “doctor of medicine”. The…
document
It is borrowed from Latin documentum and French document, the two sources that DEX and MDN name. DN starts from the Latin and compares French and Italian documento, Wiktionary names all three, and…
doi
It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *duī (“two”), the masculine remade from Classical duo on the model of the ordinary plural ending -ī, with the feminine duae behind ⟨două⟩. DELR, after Candrea and…
domeniu
It is borrowed from French domaine and learned borrowed from Latin dominium (“ownership, property, (Medieval Latin) estate”), as DELR and the DLR give it. DEX and Wiktionary give French as the…