Etruscan Loanwords in English

The Etruscans were a civilization living in central and northern Italy in early antiquity. They had a profound influence on Roman culture. Their language, unrelated to any other known language, remains little understood. Nevertheless, a number of Latin words is thought to be derived from Etruscan; some of these later entered the English language. Beware: no word in this quiz has a certain etymology; other hypotheses exist for most of them. Also, even if some of these words come from Etruscan, some of them may, in turn, be borrowings from other languages, especially Greek.

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Last updated: March 26, 2025

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First submitted	March 26, 2025
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Average score	72.2%
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Hint	Answer
A certain coin in Latin. Nowadays the playing card with a single pip.	ace
A spring month. The Etruscan word may in turn be derived from Aphrodite.	April
A venue for watching sports, especially fights. The word originally meant 'sand'. This was used to cover the floor and soaked up the gladiators' blood. No need to clean!	arena
The courtyard of a Roman home. For us, a large hall with windows in the ceiling to let in plenty of daylight. Or a chamber of the heart.	atrium
One of the seasons, usually called 'fall' in North America.	autumn
To make dirty, to dishonor or to destroy, especially something sacred. Related to 'fulling', i.e. making cloth firmer and denser by beating it.	defile
A place where goods and money are exchanged, such as a super..., a farmers' ... or a black ...	market
The armed forces. Also an adjective.	military
The luxurious residence of a ruler. Named after one of Rome's seven hills, where Augustus lived.	palace

Hint	Answer
The ceiling of the mouth, or the sense of taste. Possibly related to the word above, from an Etruscan word meaning 'sky'.	palate
Humans collectively, such as in the American constitution "We the ..."	people
Used as a singular of the above. In Etruscan, a 'mask', later a character of a play.	person
In Latin, an attendant or bodyguard. Now mostly refers to manmade objects orbiting the Earth used for communication, GPS and weather forecasting.	satellite
Day of the week named after a Roman god of agriculture.	Saturday
From the Latin word for 'slave'. A verb meaning to assist or wait on someone.	serve
False, inauthentic. Perhaps from Etruscan "spural".	spurious
The name of a book, film, artwork etc.	title
Everyday spoken language in contrast to formal literary language or, in the Middle Ages, Latin.	vernacular