The 100 Most Common Latin Words

These are the 100 most common Latin words, ranked by how often they appear in real Latin text and speech, drawn from published word-frequency research. Frequency-first learning works: a small core of high-frequency words does most of the work in everyday sentences, so mastering this list with spaced repetition gives you the fastest possible start.

#	Word	Pronunciation	English meaning
1	et	et	and
2	qui	kwee	which
3	sum	soom	be
4	in	in	in
5	is	is	he
6	non	nohn	not (negation)
7	hic	hik	this
8	ut	oot	that (conjunction)
9	ad	ahd	to
10	cum	koom	with
11	si	see	if
12	suus	SOO-oos	own
13	ille	IL-leh	that
14	ego	EH-goh	I
15	tu	too	you
16	nos	nohs	we
17	sed	sed	but
18	ex	eks	from
19	per	pehr	through
20	quis	kwis	who
21	omnis	OM-nis	all
22	res	rehs	thing
23	dico	DEE-koh	say
24	facio	FAH-kee-oh	do
25	video	WEE-deh-oh	see
26	possum	POS-soom	can
27	volo	WOH-loh	want
28	do	doh	give
29	eo	EH-oh	go
30	venio	WEH-nee-oh	come
31	habeo	HAH-beh-oh	have
32	magnus	MAHG-noos	big
33	bonus	BOH-noos	good
34	novus	NOH-woos	new
35	primus	PREE-moos	first
36	duo	DOO-oh	two
37	alius	AH-lee-oos	other
38	ipse	IP-seh	self
39	dies	DEE-ehs	day
40	homo	HOH-moh	person
41	annus	AHN-noos	year
42	tempus	TEM-poos	time
43	vita	WEE-tah	life
44	opus	OH-poos	work
45	nunc	noonk	now
46	ubi	OO-bee	where
47	cur	koor	why
48	tunc	toonk	then
49	ibi	EE-bee	there
50	multus	MOOL-toos	many
51	ab	ahb	from (by)
52	de	deh	about (down from)
53	quam	kwahm	than (how)
54	iam	yahm	already
55	meus	MEH-oos	my
56	aut	owt	or
57	etiam	EH-tee-ahm	also
58	atque	AHT-kweh	and (and also)
59	enim	EH-nim	for (indeed)
60	tamen	TAH-men	however
61	autem	OW-tem	however (moreover)
62	nec	nek	nor
63	inter	IN-tehr	between
64	tam	tahm	so (to such a degree)
65	ita	EE-tah	like this (thus)
66	nam	nahm	for (because)
67	dum	doom	while
68	nihil	NEE-hil	nothing
69	nullus	NOOL-loos	no (none)
70	noster	NOHS-tehr	our
71	tuus	TOO-oos	your
72	sine	SEE-neh	without
73	post	pohst	after
74	ante	AHN-teh	before
75	sub	soob	under
76	pars	pars	part
77	locus	LOH-koos	place
78	manus	MAH-noos	hand
79	animus	AH-nee-moos	mind (spirit)
80	deus	DEH-oos	god
81	corpus	KOR-poos	body
82	causa	KOW-sah	reason (cause)
83	modus	MOH-doos	way (manner)
84	nomen	NOH-men	name
85	terra	TEHR-rah	land (earth)
86	urbs	oorbs	city
87	vir	weer	man
88	populus	POH-poo-loos	people
89	verbum	WEHR-boom	word
90	rex	rehks	king
91	fero	FEH-roh	carry (bring)
92	ago	AH-goh	do (drive)
93	capio	KAH-pee-oh	take
94	pono	POH-noh	put
95	peto	PEH-toh	seek (ask for)
96	scio	SKEE-oh	know
97	credo	KREH-doh	believe
98	audio	OW-dee-oh	hear
99	amo	AH-moh	love
100	malus	MAH-loos	bad

Show all 100 wordsShow the first 20

Ranked by lemma frequency in published Latin corpus research; proper nouns, numbers, and duplicates removed. Pronunciation is a respelling guide, not phonetic notation.

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Frequently asked questions about Latin words

How many Latin words do you need for a basic conversation?

Frequency research shows the 1,000 most common words cover roughly 85 percent of everyday speech, and the top 100 alone appear in almost every sentence. You can manage simple exchanges with a few hundred words; this list is the foundation to build on.

What is the fastest way to memorize these 100 words?

Spaced repetition: review each word just before you would forget it, at growing intervals. It moves vocabulary into long-term memory far faster than rereading a list. Turn the 100 words into flashcards and review a small batch daily; the whole list fits into two to three weeks.

Are 100 words enough to speak Latin?

No. One hundred words let you recognize the skeleton of most sentences, but not hold a real conversation. They are the right starting point: after this list, grow toward the most common 1,000 words and start speaking practice early, even with simple phrases.

Where does this Latin word list come from?

From published Latin word-frequency research: lemma-ranked corpus lists cleaned for learners, with proper nouns, numbers, and duplicates removed. Rankings are approximate, since real usage varies by region and register, but the core is stable across corpora.