Language Learners' Library

Actually many, many Latin words have descendants in English, either directly or via French or other Romance languages, and you will recognise them. Let’s look at just a few:

Latin English descendant
fēlēs feline
canis canine
flōs floral
pedester pedestrian
omnibus bus
mūnicipium municipal
dēns dental
nāvigium navy
grānum grain
equine equus

There are basically five sources of English words.

  1. Old English, Norse and other Germanic languages
  2. French
  3. Latin
  4. Ancient Greek
  5. Other languages

To make it more interesting, often a single word originates in Ancient Greek, is adopted by Latin, transforms into a French term, and is finally loaned into English (where it undergoes anglicisation.)

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