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.
- Old English, Norse and other Germanic languages
- French
- Latin
- Ancient Greek
- 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.)