List of English words of Etruscan origin

This is a list of English words that may be of Etruscan origin, and were borrowed through Latin, often via French. The Etruscan origin of most of these words is disputed, and some may be of Indo-European or other origin. The question is made more complex by the fact that the Etruscans borrowed many Greek words in modified form. Typically if a Latin word has an unknown, uncertain or disputed origin, it is considered a possible candidate for deriving in whole or in part from an Etruscan word; however, native Etruscan must then be distinguished from Greek. If no Etruscan word is clearly identifiable sometimes an attempt is made to reconstruct one. Etruscan derivations therefore are highly variable in probability; that is, some are highly speculative and others more likely.

List

; ace : from Middle English ''aas'', from Old French ''as'', from Latin ''as'', "a whole, a unit, copper coin", possibly Etruscan. '' As'' was a Roman coin and was also a unit of weight equal to about one troy pound.
; antenna : from ''antenna'' < ''antemna'', "yard-arm, sail." Possibly Etruscan *antithemna > *ant(th)emna from Greek ἀνατιθέμενος anatithémenos, something set up.
; Anthony :
; April : Latin ''aprilis'' probably from Etruscan form ''apera-'' (found the Tabula Capuana, a ritual calendar line 8--the next section mentions May ''anpile''), which form may come from Greek Aphrodite. There is also a gloss that equates Etruscan ''Abreus'' with Latin ''Aprilis mensis''.
; arena : from ''arēna'' "arena" < ''harēna'', "arena, sand" < archaic ''hasēna'' < Sabine ''fasēna'', unknown Etruscan word as the basis for ''fas-'' with Etruscan ending ''-ēna''.
; atrium : From Latin ''atrium'' which both Breyer and Bonfante consider to be a likely loan from Etruscan (along with other architectural terms such as ''fenestra'' "window" and ''cella'' "chamber"). But both Watkins and de Vaan trace it back to Proto-Indo-European (though they disagree on the exact root).
; autumn : from ''autumnus'' "autumn." Just as Etruscan ''veltha'', an earth god, appears as Latin Vola or Olta and is in Voltumna and Vertumnus, so the parallel construction autumnus ought to come from Etruscan autu-, related to avil, "year": *av(i)-to-m(e)nos, with loss of the l. There are some names with both l and t: avlethaium, authnal, avtle, and so on, which appear related to autu or auta in Venetic, the idea being that autumn signifies the passing of the year.
; belt : from ''balteus'', "sword belt." The sole connection between this word and Etruscan is a statement by Marcus Terentius Varro that it was of Etruscan origin. All else is speculation.
; catamite : Latin, from Etruscan ''catmite'', from the Ancient Greek '' Ganymede'', cupbearer to Zeus. Bonfante and most others accept this etymology.
; ceremony : possibly Etruscan or possibly referring to Etruscan rites performed at Caere.
; defenestration, fenestra : Both Bonfante and Whatmough accept the probability that Latin ''fenestra'' was a loan from a derivative of Etruscan ''fnes-''. Some of the other reasonably certain loans also deal with elements of architecture, for example ''atrium'' and ''cella.''
; element : from ''elementum'', 'letter'.
; histrionic : from ''histrionicus'', from ''histrio'', "actor".
; letter : from Old French ''lettre'', from Latin ''littera'', which may have derived, via Etruscan, from the Greek "διφθέρα" (writing tablet).
; mantissa :
; market :
; military : Etruscan or perhaps related to Greek ''homilos'', "assembled crowd" (compare ''homily'').
; mundane : from ''mundus'', 'earth', from ''munth'', 'land'.
; mutule :
; palace, palate, palatine : One of the seven hills of Rome. Either from Latin ''palus'' "stake" or the Etruscan shepherd goddess ''Pales''.
; people :From Latin ''populus'' by way of Old French ''peuple'', possibly of Etruscan origin. After a lengthy discussion, Whatmough concludes that it is not completely certain that Latin ''populus'' is an Etruscan loanword, but that such an etymology is "satisfactory at the morphological and phonological levels."
; person : from Middle English ''persone'', from Old French ''persone'', from Latin ''persona'', "mask", probably from Etruscan ''phersu'', "mask".
; Rome : from 'Ruma', the name of one of the Etruscan tribes, or 'Rumon', which was what the Etruscans called the Tiber River, possibly of Etruscan origin
;satellite : from Latin ''satelles'', meaning "bodyguard, attendant", perhaps from Etruscan ''satnal''. Bonfante, otherwise quite skeptical of many proposed loans, calls it "quite likely" that Latin ''satteles'' is from Etruscan. Whatmough considers Latin ''satteles'' "as one of our securest Etruscan loans in Latin."
; scurrilous :
; Serge (first name)
; serve : the word ''serve'' derives from Latin ''servire'' ('to serve') and ''servus'' ('a slave'), which have sometimes been thought to derive from Etruscan. However, a detailed analysis has preferred an Indo-European etymology for the Latin word.
; spurious : From Latin ''spurius'' "born out of wedlock, illegitimate" from Etruscan ''spur-al'' "of the city" because, as Pisani proposed, children not claimed by their fathers were considered to belong to the city. Whatmough, however, rejects Pisani's claim, both because of the late attestation of the Latin term, but also because the Etruscan root ''spur'' is now seen as meaning "community" not "city"; and furthermore, in any case, the form that would have to be the immediate predecessor of Latin ''spurius'' would have to be Etruscan ''spurie'' which may have a different meaning, and in one instance seems to be the name of a person with a named father.
; triumph : From Old Latin ''triumpus,'' probably a loan word via Etruscan from Greek thriambos, a hymn to Dionysus.
; vernacular : from ''vernaculus'', 'domestic', from ''verna'', 'a native slave'.
; viburnum :

References

Bibliography

*
* Whatmough, M. ''Studies of Etruscan Loanwords in Latin'' PhD dissertation. University College London. 2007. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10121058/1/Studies_in_the_Etruscan_loanwo.pdf
* Bonfante, G. "Etruscan Words in Latin" ''Word'' 36.3. 1985. pp. 203-210 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00437956.1985.11435872?needAccess=true
* de Vaan, M. ''Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages'' (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series, Volume: 7), 2011.

See also

* Lists of English words of international origin

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of English Words Of Etruscan Origin
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