Did you know that nearly 75% of the Spanish vocabulary you use every day has Latin origins? That means if you're learning Spanish, you're already speaking Latin... you just might not know it yet! Latin is often called a "dead" language, but it never really disappeared — it lives on in Spanish every single day.
Rome, the birthplace of Latin, even celebrates its legendary founding every April 21, a perfect reminder of how deeply Roman civilization shaped the language you're learning. Today we're exploring some of the most fascinating Latin words in Spanish with meaning that are still very much alive!
Spanish is a Romance language, meaning it evolved directly from Latin — the language spoken throughout the Roman Empire. Over centuries, spoken Latin transformed into what we now call Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and Romanian.
So it's no surprise that latin root words in Spanish are everywhere. But beyond vocabulary, there are also Latin expressions that Spanish speakers use word for word, often without even realizing they're speaking the language of Julius Caesar!
This is where things get really interesting. Some of the most common Latin words used in Spanish have been around for so long, and stayed so close to their Latin origins, that they still carry the exact same meaning Romans used thousands of years ago. Let's take a look at some of the most surprising ones!
In Latin, harena simply meant sand. Spanish kept that meaning alive — arena in Spanish still means sand. Interestingly, Italian went a different direction: the modern Italian word for sand is sabbia, while arena in Italian and English came to refer to the fighting ground of Roman amphitheaters — which, of course, were covered in sand!
jugando con la arena, haciendo castillos de arena,
playing with the sand, making sand castles,
Captions 45-46, Clara y Cristina Saludar
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In Latin, piscina meant fish pond — from piscis, meaning fish. Romans used piscinae to store live fish. In Spanish, the word evolved into the most common word for swimming pool. So next time you take a dip in the piscina, think of the Romans and their fish! 🐟
Y en verano abrían la piscina pública
And in summer, they would open the public swimming pool,
Caption 57, Aprendiendo con Silvia Recuerdos de infancia - Part 3
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The word salario (salary) comes from the Latin salarium, which was directly connected to sal — salt. Roman soldiers were either paid in salt or given an allowance to buy it, since salt was an incredibly valuable commodity in ancient times. The next time someone asks about your salario, you'll know it's literally worth its salt!
de hecho, la palabra "salario", que hoy en día se usa para remunerar el puesto de trabajo, en aquél momento, se usaba porque se pagaba con sal.
in fact, the word "salary," which today is used for paying one's job, at that time, was used because one was paid with salt.
Captions 15-17, Rosa Laguna Fuente de Piedra
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Here's one that might surprise you! In Latin, candidatus meant someone dressed in white. Roman citizens who sought public office would wear a gleaming white toga — toga candida — to present themselves as pure and honest. The word candidato (candidate) in Spanish carries that 2,000-year-old tradition every election season.
Los partidos políticos se peleaban el nombre de Escobar para lanzarlo candidato al Congreso.
The political parties would compete for Escobar's name to launch him as a candidate for Congress.
Captions 38-39, Los Tiempos de Pablo Escobar Capítulo 1 - Part 5
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The Latin word calculus meant small pebble or stone. Romans used tiny pebbles as counting tokens — an ancient calculator of sorts! That's why the Spanish verb calcular (to calculate) and the word cálculo (calculation) have their roots in something as simple as a little rock.
con el sentido de calcular o enumerar.
with the sense of calculating or enumerating.
Caption 47, Silvia nos cuenta Contar, cuento y cuentas - Part 1
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In Latin, rostrum referred to the beak of a ship — specifically the bronze ram at the front of a Roman warship. Over time, the word shifted to refer to a person's face. In Spanish, rostro is a perfectly normal, everyday word for face, completely detached from its nautical origins.
Lleva puesto en su rostro un delicado velo.
She wears on her face a delicate veil.
Caption 9, Leyendas urbanas La Cegua
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The Latin word sinister simply meant left — as in the left hand. Romans considered the left side unlucky and associated it with bad omens. That negative connotation stuck, and in Spanish, siniestro evolved to mean sinister, dark, or ominous. It's also widely used in insurance and legal contexts to refer to an accident or disaster.
R dos a central, necesitamos otra ambulancia acá en el siniestro.
R two to central, we need another ambulance here at the accident.
Caption 31, Confidencial: Asesino al Volante Capítulo 1 - Part 6
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Let's continue with more Latin words used in Spanish that have been fully adopted into everyday conversation:
The word gratis comes directly from Latin and means "free of charge." Spanish speakers use it constantly — and you've probably heard it in English too!
Eh... ¿Serí'... era gratis... eh...? -No, no, no era gratis.
Um... -Wou'... it was free... um...? -No, no, it wasn't free.
Captions 44-45, Estampas argentinas El Ateneo Grand Splendid - Part 2
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This word came into Spanish unchanged from Latin, where habitare meant "to live" or "to dwell." Today, hábitat refers to the natural environment of an animal or plant.
Proteger y conservar el hábitat natural donde crecen los cipreses,
Protect and conserve the natural habitat where cypresses grow,
Caption 46, Fermín y las plantas El ciprés
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These two Latin words are staples of Spanish financial and economic language. Déficit refers to a shortfall, while superávit (from Latin superavit, "it exceeded") means a surplus. You'll hear them constantly in news broadcasts and political speeches.
El gobierno anunció un déficit presupuestario este año.
The government announced a budget deficit this year.
Caption 58, Vocabulario de noticias Economía - Part 1
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Beyond individual words, there are full Latin expressions in Spanish that speakers use naturally in conversation. Here are some of the most common ones:
Mea culpa literally means "my fault" in Latin. It's used in Spanish — and English! — to acknowledge one's own mistake, and has deep roots in Catholic tradition.
From the Latin in flagranti delicto, meaning "while the crime is blazing," in fraganti is used in Spanish to mean "caught in the act." You may also see it written as in flagranti or en flagrante.
Sí. Parece que la señora lo pescó in fragranti.
Yes. It seems like the lady caught him in the act.
Caption 76, Yago 12 Fianza - Part 7
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Used in Spanish to indicate that something happens as a direct and immediate consequence of something else.
y el próximo que me llegue a alzar la voz se va de ipso facto.
and the next person who dares to raise their voice to me leaves ipso facto.
Captions 58-59, Confidencial: Broma pesada Capítulo 2 - Part 6
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Literally "the voice of the people" in Latin, vox populi is used in Spanish journalism, politics, and everyday speech to refer to widely held public opinion.
From the Latin for "by head," per cápita is used across Spanish-speaking countries in statistics, economics, and health contexts.
Here are a few more Latin root words in Spanish so deeply embedded that most speakers never stop to think about their ancient origins:
• Versus (vs.) — used in comparisons and competitions
• Currículum — short for curriculum vitae, "course of life"
• Campus — the Latin word for "field," now used for university grounds
• Ultimátum — from Latin ultimatum, the final demand
• Plus — used in Spanish to mean "extra" or "bonus"
Latin may be considered a "dead" language, but as you can see, it never really left. The Latin words in Spanish we covered today are not just a linguistic curiosity — they're a living bridge between ancient Rome and the modern world. And the best part? You're already using many of them without even thinking about it! If you have any questions or comments, please let us know.
¡Hasta la próxima! 🏛️
In the course of your Spanish studies, you may have noticed certain patterns that make "predicting" words you may never have even heard before possible in many cases. The focus of today's lesson is one such group of words.
Due to their shared roots in the Latin language, many English words that end with the suffix -ation are cognates (words in different languages that share similar meanings, spellings, and pronunciations) along with their Spanish equivalents that end in a very similar suffix: -ación. Let's look at several, very common examples that you may have heard:
Justo el día de hoy le ha dado un mensaje a la nación
Just today he's given a message to the nation
Caption 23, Yabla en Lima El Centro - Part 2
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y tenía mucha imaginación.
and he had a lot of imagination.
Caption 9, El Aula Azul Adivina personajes históricos - Part 2
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Ehm... ¿Tiene alguna recomendación como de pollo o de pescado?
Um... Do you have any recommendation, like, for chicken or fish?
Captions 32-33, Cata y Cleer En el restaurante
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y, por suerte, casi siempre hay mucha participación.
and, luckily, there is almost always a lot of participation.
Caption 78, Viajando con Fermín Asociación ProDunas Marbella
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What can we notice about these words? First off, most of them share virtually identical spellings in English and Spanish but for the replacement of the English suffix -ation with the Spanish -ación. The only minor exception in these examples is the inclusion of a double consonant (m) in the English word "recommendation" that does not appear in la recomendación (this is due to an English spelling rule that we won't delve into in this lesson).
Another noteworthy feature of this class of -ation/-ación cognates (and, in fact, all words that end in -ación in Spanish) is that these nouns' gender in Spanish is feminine.
That said, what if we were at a party, and we wanted to talk about more complex concepts such as "industrialization," "globalization," or "commercialization," and we weren't familiar with the correct Spanish terms? We might try to substitute the Spanish suffix -ación for -ation, just to see what we came up with:
tenemos la... lógicamente, la industrialización,
we have the... logically, industrialization,
Caption 51, Los médicos explican Entrevista con el Doctor Suarez
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Y no te quiero hablar de la globalización
And I don't want to talk about globalization
Caption 47, Yago 6 Mentiras - Part 6
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Es una ruta a nivel turístico bastante joven que está en pleno proceso de comercialización.
It's a rather young route at the touristic level that is in the middle of the process of commercialization.
Captions 30-31, Europa Abierta Taller de escenografía en Olivares
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It worked! You will note that, once again, the spellings and meanings of these terms in Spanish and English are virtually identical except for the slight difference in their suffixes and the addition of the double "m" in "commercialization," again due to English spelling norms. That said, we suggest applying this formula to English words ending in -ation to make an educated guess about their Spanish translations since chances are you'll be right!
Of course, as with all things in life, no formula is perfect, and there are always exceptions. Let's take a look at couple of them:
En los meses de verano, su población llega a multiplicarse por cuatro.
In the summer months, its population gets multiplied by four.
Caption 14, Fuengirola Mercado
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Although our formula would take us to the not-quite-correct word populación, we'd venture to guess that a native Spanish speaker would understand perfectly well what you meant by "En los meses de verano, su populación [sic] llega a multiplicarse por cuatro" and just might gently edify you as to the correct term. Let's look at another example:
porque justo salir del aeropuerto ya te encuentras con la estación de autobús.
because just leaving from the airport you come across the bus station right away.
Caption 28, Blanca Cómo moverse en Barcelona
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In this case, the word estación is extremely similar to the English word "station" except for the suffix and the "e" at the beginning, which is due, this time, to a Spanish norm whereby almost all words with an "s" and a consonant at the beginning are preceded by an "e." And again, we're pretty sure that were you to inquire about the whereabouts of la stación de tren, someone would still direct you to the train station!
Although there are some words that end in -ation in English whose translations are even less similar than the aforementioned examples (e.g. translation/traducción, explanation/explicación, etc.), we still suggest that our formula is a great place to start because, even if you aren't perfectly correct in your attempt to morph an -ation word in English into an -ación word in Spanish, chances are you'll be understood and/or corrected, which is how we learn. And, in many, many cases, as we've shown you... you'll be correct!
That's all for today. Have you noticed any other patterns that have helped you to make educated guesses about words in Spanish? Let us know with your suggestions and comments.
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