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Numbers vary, depending on how you count wordsand how you define 'originally'. For example, if you drop out uncommon scientific words, the percentage drops. If Latin borrowed the word from Greek and English borrowed from Latin, do you say the word is originally Greek or Latin? At any rate, over 60% of the common English words are considered to be from Latin.

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βˆ™ 14y ago
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βˆ™ 14y ago

More than 50% of the words in English come from Latin.

Specifically, the numbers are surprising. After all, English is not in the same family as Latin. English is a member of the Germanic group of languages, and Latin is the ancestor of such Romance languages as French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and Spanish.

So how did this happen? It largely is due to the Norman Conquest, which was the last successful invasion of England, in 1066. The Normans and their Gallic colleagues were speakers of the languages and dialects of France. France was one of the areas conquered by the ancient Roman speakers of the ancient, classical Latin language.

The Romans influenced their subject areas in many ways, especially in language. Latin words were incorporated into the native dialects and languages of France. The words were passed into English during the 200 years in which the Norman and Norman-descended monarchy spoke French.

In fact, the first Norman-descended king to speak English "reasonably well" did not occupy the throne until King Edward I (June 17, 1239-July 7, 1307) reigned from November 16, 1272 until July 7, 1307. In fact, the King was called "Longshanks" for his height and long legs, and "Scottorum malleus," which is Latin for "Hammer of the Scots" because of his battles with his northern neighbors.

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βˆ™ 12y ago

because latin was the language introduced by the Romans in our country hundreds of years b.c. It has been slowly merged with English, having until recently only been used by the nobility, church and royalty of England.

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βˆ™ 13y ago

No! English is not a romance language, but a germanic one. One third of English words, however, do come from latin -- but they come via French, which is a Romance language.

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βˆ™ 11y ago

A lot. I've heard that something like 65% of the English language derives directly from Latin.

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βˆ™ 10y ago

About 60 percent of the English language has the Greek and Latin roots.

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βˆ™ 13y ago

Pretty much all.

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βˆ™ 12y ago

Too many to say a few...

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Q: What percentage of the English vocabulary originally comes from Latin?
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