Italian etymology in numbers

Borrowed, inherited or formed

Each entry counted once: as borrowed if its etymology names a language it was taken from, else as inherited, else as formed within Italian.

• Borrowed 41% · 733 taken from another language
• Inherited 40% · 710 passed down from an ancestor of Italian
• Formed in Italian 12% · 215 compounds and derivatives of its own words
• Not traced yet 7% · 128 no etymology links yet

Ultimate origins by language family

Where the 1,452 traced words end up when their etymologies are followed back as far as they go, from entry to entry, grouped into families and the branches of Indo-European.

1. Italic 1,055 · 73% Latin 859 · Proto-Italic 86 · French 41 · Old French 31 …
2. Indo-European 238 · 16% Proto-Indo-European 238
3. Hellenic 78 · 5% Ancient Greek 71 · Byzantine Greek 4 · Proto-Hellenic 3
4. Germanic 32 · 2% English 9 · Old English 7 · Proto-Germanic 5 · German 4 …
5. Afroasiatic 11 · 1% Arabic 7 · Phoenician 2 · Egyptian 1 · Biblical Hebrew 1
6. Celtic 2 · 0% Gaulish 2
7. Turkic 2 · 0% Ottoman Turkish 1 · Turkish 1
8. Indo-Iranian 1 · 0% Proto-Iranian 1
9. Unclassified 33 · 2% Pre-Greek 10 · Frankish 10 · Lombardic 9 · Etruscan 2 …

When the words arrived

The 1,784 entries with a first-attestation date, by century and by the language each was borrowed from.

• Latin
• French
• English
• Greek
• Occitan
• Other borrowings
• Inherited or formed
• Not traced

Words other languages took from Italian

230 entries of other languages in this dictionary were borrowed from Italian or its earlier stages.

1. English 128 fuse, banker, vest, tribune
2. French 82 marron, sac, poste, page
3. German 12 Soldat, Post, Nummer, Konzert
4. Latin 4 parlamentum, America, pizza, bisonium
5. Aromanian 2 ma, stat
6. Dutch 2 luister, prima

Most prolific roots

The words that the most Italian entries go back to, at the far end of their etymologies.

1. 4 Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ-e/o- → dirigere, regola, direttore, diretto
2. 3 Proto-Indo-European *déh₁ → da, dove, di
3. 3 Proto-Italic *kap-i- → ricevere, capire, capace
4. 3 Proto-Indo-European *sth₂-eh₁-ie/o- → stare, stagione, stazione
5. 3 Proto-Indo-European *tórh₁nos → turno, tornare, intorno
6. 3 Latin computo → contare, conto, computer
7. 3 Latin firmo → fermare, firma, firmare
8. 3 Latin ille → gli, le, il
9. 3 Ancient Greek καῦμα → calma, calmo, calmare
10. 2 Proto-Indo-European *Hoi-no- → uno, un
11. 2 Latin *accorrigo → accorgersi, accorto
12. 2 Latin *arresto → arrestare, arresto
13. 2 Proto-Italic *didō → dare, dato
14. 2 Latin *expingo → spingere, spegnere
15. 2 Proto-Italic *fak-i- → fare, faccenda

Longest journeys

The Italian words whose etymologies pass through the most languages, followed from entry to entry.

1. bar 6 languages

   English bar ← Middle English barre ← Old French barre ← Ancient Greek βάρος ← Ancient Greek βαρύς ← Proto-Hellenic *gʷarus ← Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us

2. fan 5 languages

   English fan ← Middle English fanne ← Old English fann ← Latin vannus ← Proto-Italic *watnos

3. turno 5 languages

   French tourner ← Old French torner ← Latin torno ← Ancient Greek τόρνος ← Proto-Indo-European *tórh₁nos

4. azione 4 languages

   Latin actio ← French action ← Proto-Italic *ag-e/o- ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-e/o-

5. base 4 languages

   Latin basis ← Ancient Greek βάσις ← Proto-Hellenic *gʷə́tis ← Proto-Indo-European *gʷémtis

6. centrale 4 languages

   Latin centralis ← Ancient Greek κέντρον ← Proto-Hellenic *kéntron ← Proto-Indo-European *ḱéntrom

7. centro 4 languages

   Latin centrum ← Ancient Greek κέντρον ← Proto-Hellenic *kéntron ← Proto-Indo-European *ḱéntrom

8. file 4 languages

   English file ← Middle English file ← Old English fēol ← Middle French filer

9. ladro 4 languages

   Latin latro ← Proto-Italic *lātrom ← Ancient Greek λάτρον ← Pre-Greek

10. metro 4 languages

    Latin metrum ← Ancient Greek μέτρον ← French mètre ← Proto-Indo-European *meh₁-