Most of the vocabulary of the Romance languages derives from Vulgar Latin. Sometimes the word used in the Vulgar tongue was different from that used in Classical Latin, which explains why very often all Romance languages use words clearly derived from a common root, while the Classical Latin term is another. This is not a rule, as sometimes one or two languages derive a given word from Classical Latin, while the others derive it from the Vulgar speech or even from foreign words.
| English | Classical
Latin |
Vulgar
Latin |
Italian | Spanish | Portuguese | French |
| horse | equus | caballum | cavallo | caballo
(fem) yegua |
cavalo
(fem) égua |
cheval |
| beautiful | pulcher | bellus (benulus) | bello | bello | belo | beau |
| war | bellum | — |
guerra | guerra | guerra | guerre |
| head | caput | testa | testa | cabeza | cabeça | tête |
| sea | aequor | mare | mare | mar | mar | mer |
| to play | ludere | iocare | giocare | jugar | jogar | jouer |
| big | magnus | grandis | grande | grande | grande | grand |
| mouth | os | bucca | bocca | boca | boca | bouche |
| star | sider | stella | stella | estrella | estrela | étoile |
| sand | arena | sabulo | sabbia | arena | areia | sable |
Latin
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