# Etymology: The transition from "bellum" to "guerra/guerre", and how "bella" came to mean "beautiful"



## Abbassupreme

How did Latin's "bellum", which I've deduced to mean "war", become "guerra" in Spanish and Italian and "guerre" in French and how did "bella" (which I'm assuming means "wars") come to mean "beautiful" in Spanish and Italian (and "belle" in French)?!


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## Amatus

_Bellum_ of course means 'war', but there was a word _bellus _that meant 'nice', 'pretty'.  A _bellus homo_ was a man who was probably seen as somewhat effeminate, who had his body hair plucked and the like.  The expression occurs in one of the Latin poets.  Also, Martial calls one Caecilianus' wild boar dish the latter's 'bellus conviva', his 'nice guest'.  

_Guerre/guerra_ comes ultimately from Old High German _werra_, 'quarrel'.


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## cajzl

"guerra" is a loan word from the Germanic languages, the English "war" is cognate. Similarly: ward -> guarda

"bellus" is diminutive from bonus (arch. duenos/duonos) -> *benulus -> *benlus (syncope) -> bellus (assim. nl > ll)

"bellum" (arch. duellum) x "bellus" is merely a coincidence


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## Abbassupreme

Thank you!


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## Abbassupreme

cajzl said:


> "guerra" is a loan word from the Germanic languages, the English "war" is cognate. Similarly: ward -> guarda
> 
> "bellus" is diminutive from bonus (arch. duenos/duonos) -> *benulus -> *benlus (syncope) -> bellus (assim. nl > ll)
> 
> "bellum" (arch. duellum) x "bellus" is merely a coincidence



Wait . . . . . I'm confused.  Diminutive . . . . ?   What's benelus and benlus, and what does "arch." mean?  Archaic?  If so, when was this ARCHAIC form used?


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## pacobabel

"ben" is "e degree "of the same root of bon-us (is a typical arish phenomenon, you can also see this vocalic change in classical greek: l*eí*po, le-l*o*ipa, but also in latin: m*e*ns, m*o*neo); -lus/la is the diminutive morpheme in latin: auricula < auris, poenulus < poenus (the little punic man, as in Plautus' comedy).
bellum (war) has the same root like greek polemos.
 As always, sorry because of my english
p.


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## cajzl

*Duenos* (with non-syllabic u), then *duonos*, are archaic forms of bonus, they are known from Old Latin inscriptions.

The archaic diminutive of *duenos* would be *duenolos, hence the hypothetical forms (with asterix) *benulus and *benlus, finally the classical form bellus, bella, bellum. Nothing in common with *bellum* (war), which has the archaic form duellum.


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## tvdxer

Abbassupreme said:


> How did Latin's "bellum", which I've deduced to mean "war", become "guerra" in Spanish and Italian and "guerre" in French and how did "bella" (which I'm assuming means "wars") come to mean "beautiful" in Spanish and Italian (and "belle" in French)?!



"Guerra" is from a Germanic source rather than Latin.  In other words, it shares the same etymology as English _war_.  Here is the RAE entry:

(Del germ. _*werra_, pelea, discordia; cf. a. al. ant. _wërra_,  neerl. medio _warre_).

As for "bella", it comes from Latin _bellus_ which had a similar meaning to the modern Romance words.


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## DrLindenbrock

Hi everybody!
Just to answer the question of how and why the word "bellum" was eventually replaced by "guerra" or "guerre", I've often read that it could be because "bellum" described the kind of war the Roman Legions were used to, i.e. very "neat" and "orderly" (try to see what I mean...) combat between two armies, largely based on tactics and strategy.
Once the so-called barbarians started attacking the Roman Empire, wars became more like small but continuos clashes or even just ambushes, so "bellum" no longer provided a good explanation of this, and the Germanic word took its place.
I know this has nothing to do with linguistics _strictu sensu_ D) but I remember it giving me a good explanation the day I asked myself the question Abbassupreme now posted.
Perhaps if we are good and don't elaborate too much about this (at least in this thread) the mods will let us keep this post... 
Enjoy posting!


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## vince

Is a cognate of "war" still used in German?
It seems that most other Germanic languages use a word that sounds like "krig" to refer to "war".

Is "war" related to Slavic "vojna"?

Perhaps bellus being related to bonus might explain why "elle est bonne" "está buena" means that a woman is attractive. And also explains why "bonita" (a diminuitive of buena / boa ) means beautiful


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## cajzl

> Perhaps bellus being related to bonus might explain why "elle est bonne" "está buena" means that a woman is attractive. And also explains why "bonita" (a diminuitive of buena / boa ) means beautiful


On the other side *bellus* chiefly means _good_ in Latin.

bellum est sua vitia nosse = _it's a good thing to know one's own faults_


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## Reigh

vince said:


> Is a cognate of "war" still used in German?
> It seems that most other Germanic languages use a word that sounds like "krig" to refer to "war".



No, "war" in German today is "Krieg" and as far as I know it's "oorlog" in Dutch, so there seems to be nothing left of "werra" and I can't think of a word sounding alike in my dialect.


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## mcc7x

Reigh said:


> No, "war" in German today is "Krieg" and as far as I know it's "oorlog" in Dutch, so there seems to be nothing left of "werra" and I can't think of a word sounding alike in my dialect.



According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the following German words are derived from the same root as the reconstructed Frankish word **werra* (which gave rise to the English and Romance languages words for "war"):



* verwịrren* transitives (auch intransitives) Verb "to confuse"
 _* Wịrren *_Plural "turmoil"
 * *_*Wịrrwarr*_ der; _*Wịrrwarrs *_"chaos", (von Stimmen) "clamour"
 
I had also thought that the following words might have to do with **werra* as well, but apparently they came from a different root (Proto-Germanic _**waraz*_), which gave rise to the English words _*wary*_, _*aware *_and _*beware*_. 



*wehren *reflexives Verb "to defend oneself"
_*Wehr, Wehren*_: sich [gegen jmdn./etw.] zur Wehr setzen "to make a stand [against sb./sth.]";
_*Wehrmacht*_: "defence force" or more literally "defence-power"
 
Though the semantic (and phonetic!) similarity is interesting, scholars derive these words from a different root (**werra *versus_**waraz*_). Still, **werra *is derived from a Proto-Germanic **werso*, and _**waraz*_ is derived from a Proto Indo-European base _**wer-*_ meaning "to cover", so there might be some relation yet! We'd better leave such determinations up to the PhD's, though!!

Best
mcc7x


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## ravivararo

Abbassupreme said:


> How did Latin's "bellum", which I've deduced to mean "war", become "guerra" in Spanish and Italian and "guerre" in French and how did "bella" (which I'm assuming means "wars") come to mean "beautiful" in Spanish and Italian (and "belle" in French)?!


 

In Tamil, a Dravidian Languages, the following similar cognates are available.

பாழி¹ pāḻi, _n_. Fight, battle; போர். பாழி கொள்ளு மேமத்தானும் (தொல். பொ. 72).

பொலம்¹ polam, _n_. Beauty, fairness; அழகு. (திவா.) பொலந்தேர்ப் பொறைய (பதிற்றுப். 84, 6)

வராகம்² varākam_, n_. Battle; போர். (யாழ். அக.).


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## BP.

Ah the headphones script!

Anyway we have in Urdu and Hindi this word _bhalaa_ (pronounced somewhat like _bella_, if the aspirated b is too much to imagine) that means good, nice, even beautiful. But Urdu has almost supplanted it by _khuub_.


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## Eremon

I remember Joseph W Campbell saying that "war" and all those variants actually derive from a Gallic (Celtic) war god named "Gorra".  That would predate all the references I've seen so far.  His name is retained in the Irish expression "Begorra".  This is a very interesting thread and I thank all the participants.


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## Eremon

Yes indeed.  But Campbell's point was that all of those words were derived from the name of a god, whose name incorporated all of those meanings.  The Celtic influence on Greek and Latin would have started before the time of Homer.  Consider the linguistic correlation between the Saxon War God "Tiw" (as in "Tuesday") and "Zeus" and "Tiw-pitar" (Jupiter) as well as with "duality" and "deity".  All of this is rather nebulous of course and is a part of prehistory, not history.  That field - Nostratics - is somewhat obscure but my research and that of my colleagues is reaching back many thousands of years.  I know that may sound silly, but if a paleontologist can derive an entire dinosaur from one leg bone, the same can be done with words - with numerous mistakes along the way.  The process we use derives from that of the first modern philologists: Grimm's Law.  I mention this merely to point out the wild and wonderful aspects of word study.  While some of us are (too) serious about these matters, many others regard it as great fun. Thank you for your reply!!!


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## berndf

See also this related thread.


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## Fred-Rick

My first time on this site, and much impressed with subject matters and the fun to be had. So interesting to see the name of the god of war _Tiw_ that gave us Tuesday, because the word now makes sense to me as going back to the number _two_. And yes, I had always wondered where the word Bellum could come from, but with seeing variations shown here of the root, I can recognize the word _duel_ which we still use today. I know that di- and bi- are both versions of number _two_ and reading _duellum (duo) _into _buellum _into _bellum _is then easy. 

War does not necessarily need two sides, as we know from modern times, but I guess in its original form war is that situation where _two _clash (and not one or three). Fun therefore to see that the god of war that gave us Tuesday has that same visualization.

The German word Krieg is close to the Dutch word _krijg_, and a warrior in Dutch is also _krijger. _The verb in Dutch, however, means_ to get._ And I would imagine that the visualization is then similar to _outcome_, or something as _"And the spoils go to..."
_
I now also see how my own native word _oorlog _comes from that word _war _or _guerre_, with the 'gw' not pronounced. Though I do not yet see the log-part. Who knows, it may be a very old version of the -ly ending we have in English and -lich in German, and originally been _warly _which then next became its own noun.

From Tamil the _pol- beginning_ is fascinating, because it stimulates my mind to see _polar _as coming from that same origin as well, thinking about an opposite position. The word bi-polar would then using its own root in some kind of fashion twice.

It makes me curious what the word for two is in Tamil and, BelligerentPacifist, what it is in Urdu.


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## berndf

There is no indication that _duellum _and _duo _should be etymologically related. You shouldn't take it for granted.


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## Fred-Rick

berndf said:


> There is no indication that _duellum _and _duo _should be etymologically related. You shouldn't take it for granted.



Let me start out apologizing, Bernd. I know that I have a manner of writing that is assertive, personally-rightful to a fault, and often contains words that can put people off. It is not my intention to do that, but it is tough to change and in my writing years I have improved myself, but not perfected the son of a gun. I hope you can read through my toughness of words and will regard my words as mine — not as stating the truth for everyone alive (or dead for that matter).

In my views, it is not too difficult to envision what our ancestors had in mind when deciding what words to use. But what it requires for me -to accept a correlation- is that a visualization is possible that fits in the background for at least two somewhat similarly-sounding words, and when the visualization fits in the background for similar words from several languages, then I embrace it even more. I then envision the ancestors of the words to be older than when the background visualization fits only two or a few words. 

It is not that I will hold on to the correlation when other evidence shows the word are not related (bella, bellum), but I will hold on to the seemingly strong correlation when nothing else is presented. In the case of your reply, I noticed you did not bring in any argument why _duel_ and _duo_ were not related. You may be right, but please bring in information that shows a different background exists indeed for each word. Right now, I believe to be correct. Prove me wrong, and you have a friend forever.


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## terredepomme

From _duellum_, on the other hand, derives the word _duel_(French and later English), which have been long mistaken from having derived from _duo_.


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## berndf

The etymology of _duellum_ is unclear. Experience tells us that assuming etymological connections based on mere similarity is ofter a treacherous guide. For words like _duellum_ without any obvious cognates in other IE languages it is practically impossible to reconstruct an origin. I am not saying they aren't related. I am only warning you not to jump to conclusions. Etymological research relies on a system of cross-checks to discriminate between chance similarities and true connections. Imagine you didn't have the information that Classical Latin_ bellum_ is derived from Old Latin _duellum_. Then you would probably now been speculating about a relationship between_ bellum_ and _bellus_ (_beautiful_). All very dangerous.





Fred-Rick said:


> Right now, I believe to be correct. Prove me wrong, and you have a friend forever.


It is much more prudent to take the opposite stance: Don't assume a relation unless you have some means of cross-checking.


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## terredepomme

_Dictionnaire latin français_(1934) suggests the etymology with the PIE _dāu-, deu-_ (« destroy, burn »), from which also derives ancient Greek _duē_(« misery, suffering »).


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## berndf

terredepomme said:


> _Dictionnaire latin français_(1934) suggests the etymology with the PIE _dāu-, deu-_ (« destroy, burn »), from which also derives ancient Greek _duē_(« misery, suffering »).


Yes, thank you. I am aware of that (reproduced here). I find this equally speculative, but it demonstrates nicely that there are equally or even more plausible alternative explanations.


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## Fred-Rick

Abbassupreme said:


> How did Latin's "bellum", which I've deduced to mean "war", become "guerra" in Spanish and Italian and "guerre" in French and how did "bella" (which I'm assuming means "wars") come to mean "beautiful" in Spanish and Italian (and "belle" in French)?!



Let me add another two cents here (maybe my last on this forum), how it is very interesting that in French the words _beau _and _belle _mean the same thing, yet are quite distinct. One is male and the other the female version of beautiful (handsome/pretty). Since both are distinct, it may be prudent to look for a distinct difference in feel as well. I like seeking words that remain linked to the statement of war, and refering to the German word _Krieg _for war and the Dutch word _krijger _for warrior, the link there was that they refer to 'to get', 'to obtain', or in war terms: _to get the spoils_. 

Now if we use _the winner _and _that what is won_ to the words _beau _and _belle_, then the feel may be explained. In modern eyes, that may a bit sexist, but then again in French there is a distinction, too. 

Further, would it be pushing the envelope to declare that the word beau is related to bon, bueno, buon, which means good, and next that this (particularly buon) is similar to the Germanic word _won_? While the word belle (as in bellum) is known in a context of war, it would also suggest that the one who won is the one who is the good one. Would makes sense to me to not declare the loser the good one, particularly when the winner gets to rule you.


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## terredepomme

Beau/belle are the same word with a different declension, Fred-rick. You can say that a male is a belle personne. Also "a beautiful man" is un bel homme, where "bel" has no phonetical difference from "belle." And these two "words" both decent from bellus/bella. Although bellus/bella itself was a diminutif of bonus/bona it is not exclusive to bellus, obviously.
I think your speculations are not that plausible.


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## aruniyan

Fredrick,

The Tamil word for Two is "IranDu",

About the words discussed here,

Tamil word for 
War = POr

 but 
Similar words 

Spear=VEl = War  could have some connection with "War"?

Won = Venru


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## IngridP

Well, I had the same question and when you think warriors were considered the definition of beautiful (for men), it now makes sense.  war > warrior > beautiful (man) > beautiful (woman)
guerre > guerrier > beau > belle


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## berndf

_Bell-us/-a/-um_ (_=beau/belle_) were merged phonetically with _bellum_ (=_guerre_) already in classical Latin. It is quite clear that _bellum_ (=_guerre_) is derived from earlier _duellum_. The etymology of _bell-us/-a/-um_ (_=beau/belle_) beyond classical Latin is unclear. Romance _guerra/guerre_ is derived from Germanic _war- _(as in English_ war_ and German _Wirre_) and has nothing to do with any of the classical Latin words.


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## fdb

de Vaan, _Etym. dict. of Latin and the other Italic languages_ (2008) writes:

“The best etymology for _duellum_ so far has been proposed by Pinault 1987, who posits a dim[inutive] *_duenelo- _to _bonus_. If *_duenelo-_ meant ‘quite good, quite brave’, its use in the context of war _(bella acta, bella gesta_) could be understood as a euphemism, ultimately yielding a meaning ‘action of valour, war’ for the noun _bellum_.”

If correct, this would mean that _bellum_ ‘war’ and _bellus _‘good, beautiful’ are in fact etymologically connected.


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## Penyafort

It obviously must have been an early loanword, already present in Vulgar Latin, eventually replacing any derivatives from BELLUM. 

I guess the fact that it might have been coincidental with derivatives from BELLUS is not that important, as the same thing happened with other words too. Besides, central Romances used BELLUS for beautiful (French BEAU, Italian BELLO, Catalan BELL), but peripheral Romances preferred FORMOSUS (Ibero-Romance FERMOSO, Romanian FRUMOS), the use of _bello _in Spanish being a later thing.

Curiously though, modern Spanish in Spain and Catalan see _hermoso _and _bell _as somewhat literary, and tend to prefer derivatives from BONUS for 'beautiful' (Sp. _bonito_, Ct. _bonic_) in the spoken language.


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## shivagreg

So, my question is: Why is there no word "guerrulous"?  Would seem logical, and completely natural, to me. . .


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