List of Portuguese words of Germanic origin


This is a list of Portuguese words that come from Germanic languages. Many of these words entered the language during the late antiquity, either as words introduced into Vulgar Latin elsewhere, or as words brought along by the Suebi who settled in Gallaecia in the 5th century, and also by the Visigoths who annexed the Suebic Kingdom in 585. Other words were incorporated to Portuguese during the Middle Ages, mostly proceeding from French and Occitan languages, as both cultures had a massive impact in Portuguese during the 12th and 13th centuries. More recently other words with Germanic origin have been incorporated, either directly from English or other Germanic languages, or indirectly through French.
Many of these words are shared with the Galician language, with minor spelling or phonetic differences. It is divided into words that come from English, Frankish, Langobardic, Middle Dutch, Middle High German, Middle Low German, Old English, Old High German, Old Norse, Old Swedish, and Visigothic and finally, words which come from Germanic with the specific source unknown. Projections indicate over 600 Germanic words in Portuguese, with a tendency to increase due to English, German and other modern influences.
Some of these words existed in Latin as loanwords from other languages. Some of these words have alternate etymologies and may also appear on a list of Galician words from a different language. Some words contain non-Germanic elements. Any form with an asterisk is unattested and therefore hypothetical.

Dutch

Middle Low German

Old English

Visigothic

Forenames

Ancient Roman-derived names are the most numerous in Portugal and Portuguese-speaking countries. Together with Germanic-derived names they constitute the majority of those today:

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Z