*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of Roman

From Old French Romain, from Latin Rōmānus. By surface analysis, Rom(e) + -an. Doublet of Romano. Displaced native Romish. * In reference to the Byzantine Empire, via the Medieval Greek endonym Ῥωμαῖος (Rhōmaîos).

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
name

A male given name from Latin recently borrowed from continental Europe. · A surname. · A city in Neamț County, Romania.

adj

Of or from Rome. · Of or from the Roman Empire. · Of or from the Byzantine Empire. · Of noble countenance but with little facial expression.

noun

A native or resident of Rome. · A native or resident of the Roman Empire. · A native or resident of the Byzantine Empire. · The Roman script.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Old French Romain, from Latin Rōmānus. By surface analysis, Rom(e) + -an. Doublet of Romano. Displaced native Romish. * In reference to the Byzantine Empire, via the Medieval Greek endonym Ῥωμαῖος (Rhōmaîos).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 7 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "Romain"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French Romain"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "Rōmānus"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin Rōmānus"
    },
    {
      "name": "surf",
      "args": {
        "1": "+suf",
        "2": "en",
        "3": "Rome",
        "4": "an",
        "alt1": "Rom(e)"
      },
      "expansion": "By surface analysis, Rom(e) + -an"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Romano"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of Romano"
    },
    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gkm",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Medieval Greek"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "Romain",
      "Romain#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "Rōmānus",
      "Romanus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "Rom(e)",
      "Rome#English"
    ],
    [
      "-an",
      "-an#English"
    ],
    [
      "Romano",
      "Romano#English"
    ],
    [
      "Romish",
      "Romish#English"
    ],
    [
      "Ῥωμαῖος",
      "Ῥωμαῖος#Ancient_Greek"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "A male given name from Latin recently borrowed from continental Europe.",
        "A surname.",
        "A city in Neamț County, Romania."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "5e72872786efc0986babf60ab7f02e17be6ebff4d49b78e54bd1749a278d877b",
      "rawRecordSha256": "7d990db2403add7b28ec347e9207f4e14e35eb32f483323c14f103d44bd635a1",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 332302
    },
    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Of or from Rome.",
        "Of or from the Roman Empire.",
        "Of or from the Byzantine Empire.",
        "Of noble countenance but with little facial expression."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical"
      ],
      "recordId": "627b7fe15341b6d54c85ee59e3e8f02095114dcc63ef481082c4266a3f471319",
      "rawRecordSha256": "87aa7360f4fa76942f408a94c916bdf92ab3f4b33a39ff8838a3005ae7b601be",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 332300
    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A native or resident of Rome.",
        "A native or resident of the Roman Empire.",
        "A native or resident of the Byzantine Empire.",
        "The Roman script."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "recordId": "d00aad6a1ba2269be9d3b8a80f89da91a5b1e33d483111da965f89e34c7dd4b6",
      "rawRecordSha256": "b91c07f1c6cdece4bf569cd1cd187d6f3193919e7d280e28c985b32163bcd2b4",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 332301
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 7,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for Roman →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-Um9tYW4