You Already Know Some Latin (part 1)
Updated: Jul 28
If you are an English speaker, you already know some Latin; let me show you!
Editing Signa here: I misjudged how many words this would actually be, so here are the nouns. I'll do adjectives, verbs and other words in separate posts and compile the lists into one large downloadable list. I hope these 70 words will keep you occupied for now.
I'm not going to pretend that I can list all of the English words that have Latin roots; that would be a large undertaking even for me. However, I hope this list gives you an idea of how many words we do get from Latin. Some of these have travelled via other languages before entering English, the most common ones being Italian, Spanish and French, but they're still pretty close to their Latin roots. I have provided a simple meaning for Latin words where they mean something different to the English word.
English | Latin |
Admiration, admire | admiratio |
Adultescent | adulescens |
Agriculture | ager (agri) - field, territory, land |
Amicable, amicability | amicus - friend |
Annual | annus - year |
Aqua | aqua - water |
Arms (weapons), army | arma - weapons |
Asylum | asylum |
Audacious | audacia - bold, daring, brave |
Axillary | auxilium - help |
Campus | campus - plain, field |
Casualty | casus - misfortune |
Castle | castellum - fort |
Cavern, cave | caverna |
Clamour | clamor - shout |
Controversy | controversia - dispute, argument |
Corpse | corpus - body |
Custodian | custos - Guard |
Dentist | dens - tooth |
Despair | desperatio |
Dictator | dictator |
Dignity | dignitas |
Domination | dominus - master |
Donation | donum - gift |
Exit | exitus |
Explorer | explorator - scout, spy |
Fable | fabula |
Famine, famished | famas - hunger |
Feminine | femina - woman |
Fidelity, fealty | fidas - oath, faith |
Flammable | flamma - flame |
Honour | honestas |
Hospital, hotel, hostel, hospice | hospes (hospitis) - friend, guest, host |
Imperial, empire, emperor | imperium - power, supremacy |
Insidious | insidiae - an ambush |
Investigate | vestigium - track, footstep, footprint |
Library | liber - book |
Mandate | mandatum |
Matrimony | matrona - married woman |
Menstrual | mensis - month |
Nasal | nasus |
Nepotism | nepos - grandson |
Nocturnal | nox, noctis - night |
Obsess, obsessed | obses - hostage obsideo - to besiege |
Odious | odium |
Pastor (clergy) | pastor - shepherd |
Peril | periculum - danger |
Prodigy | prodigium - portent, omen, marvel |
Promise | promissum |
Pugnacious | pugna - battle, fight |
Quiet | quies - rest |
Religion, religious | religio |
Regal | regina - queen rex, regis - king |
Scribe | scriba - clerk scribere - to write |
Sedentary | sedes - seat |
Silence | silentium |
Spectacle | spectaculum |
Supplication | supplicium - punishment |
Tempest | tempestas - storm |
Temple | templum - temple |
Umbra | umbra |
Urban | urbs - city |
Verb | verbum - word |
Vestigial | vestigium - track, footstep, footprint |
Vestments | vestimenta |
Via | via - the way, road, path |
Victory | victoria |
Virile | vir, viri - man, husband |
Virtue | virtus - courage, virtue |
Vulnerable | vulnus - wound |
Sources:
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