Italian vs Romanian: 300 Words That Are Nearly Identical

If you already speak Italian, Romanian can feel oddly familiar the moment you start reading it — and the reverse is just as true. Both languages grew out of Latin, so a large slice of everyday vocabulary lines up almost exactly: stato and stat, momento and moment, importante and important. This page sets such pairs side by side so you can see, word by word, how close the two languages sit.

The point isn't to skip Romanian (or Italian) grammar — it's to stop re-learning vocabulary you already half-know. Once you notice the patterns in pairs like problema/problemă or difficile/dificil, you can often guess related words before you've studied them formally.

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Italian vs Romanian: 300 Words That Are Nearly Identical: the list

#EnglishItalianRomanian
1state stato stat
2friend amico amice
3life vita viață
4type tipo tip
5mother mamma mamă
6favor favore favor
7moment momento moment
8important importante important
9problem problema problemă
10possible possibile posibil
11dead morto mort
12person persona persoană
13love amore amor
14hand mano mână
15devil diavolo diavol
16fantastic fantastico fantastic
17special speciale special
18order ordine ordin
19control controllo control
20long lungo lung
21last ultima ultim
22telephone telefono telefon
23blood sangue sânge
24difficult difficile dificil
25serious serio serios
26cause causa cauză
27unique unica unic
28weapon arma armă
29movie film film
30program programma program
31stupid stupido stupid
32danger pericolo pericol
33system sistema sistem
34dog cane câine
35list lista listă
36sweet dolce dulce
37zone zona zonă
38sergeant sergente sergent
39doctor medico medic
40energy energia energie
41meat carne carne
42victim vittima victimă
43normal normale normal
44room camera cameră
45director direttore director
46degree grado grad
47study studio studiu
48sexy sexy sexy
49free libero liber
50species specie specie
51company compagnia companie
52series serie serie
53to verify verificare verifica
54terrible terribile teribil
55queen regina regină
56hunger fame foame
57apartment appartamento apartament
58demon demone demon
59milk latte lapte
60interesting interessante interesant
61hard duro dur
62sad triste trist
63hell inferno infern
64contract contratto contract
65natural naturale natural
66planet pianeta planetă
67human umano uman
68vampire vampiro vampir
69dangerous pericoloso periculos
70champion campione campion
71coast costa coastă
72jealous geloso gelos
73worried preoccupato preocupat
74train treno tren
75wine vino vin
76tribe tribù trib
77device dispositivo dispozitiv
78magnificent magnifico magnific
79taste gusto gust
80useless inutile inutil
81track pista pistă
82art arte artă
83master maestro maestru
84destiny destino destin
85soldier soldato soldat
86park parco parc
87bridge ponte punte
88meters metri metru
89legal legale legal
90nervous nervoso nervos
91enormous enorme enorm
92copy copia copie
93hero eroe erou
94noble nobile nobil
95innocent innocente inocent
96to provoke provocare provoca
97email e-mail e-mail
98van furgone furgonetă
99break pausa pauză
100theft furto furt
101stomach stomaco stomac
102beast bestia bestie
103worm verme vierme
104baseball baseball baseball
105magic magia magie
106sword spada spadă
107factory fabbrica fabrica
108creature creatura creatură
109comfortable comodo comod
110theory teoria teorie
111alibi alibi alibi
112to invent inventare inventa
113nurse infermiera infirmieră
114guard guardiano gardian
115therapy terapia terapie
116channel canale canal
117national nazionale național
118pig porco porc
119member membro membru
120sufficient sufficiente suficient
121lover amante amant
122to identify identificare identifica
123bus autobus autobus
124social sociale social
125pathetic patetico patetic
126tears lacrime lacrimă
127furious furioso furios
128funeral funerale funerare
129fashion moda modă
130governor governatore guvernator
131identity identità identitate
132band banda bandă
133vacation vacanza vacanță
134adorable adorabile adorabil
135medicine medicina medicină
136pure puro pur
137delicious delizioso delicios
138glory gloria glorie
139violence violenza violență
140prize premio premiu
141to command comandare comanda
142scar cicatrice cicatrice
143zombie zombie zombi
144version versione versiune
145airport aeroporto aeroport
146psychiatrist psichiatra psihiatru
147concert concerto concert
148clown clown clovn
149splendid splendida splendid
150distracted distratto distrat
151false falso fals
152anterior anteriore anterior
153original originale originali
154literally letteralmente literalmente
155nice simpatico simpatic
156crystal cristallo cristal
157owner proprietario proprietar
158dragon drago dragon
159jeans jeans jean
160shepherd pastore păstor
161intervention intervento intervenție
162society società societate
163alcohol alcol alcool
164mathematics matematica matematică
165informant informator informator
166coin moneta monedă
167pilot pilota pilot
168pirate pirata pirat
169irish irlandese irlandez
170sir sire sire
171culture cultura cultură
172theater teatro teatru
173symbol simbolo simbol
174religion religione religie
175atmosphere atmosfera atmosferă
176cow vacca vacă
177clinic clinica clinic
178prison carcere carceră
179document documento document
180autopsy autopsia autopsie
181condom preservativo prezervativ
182pearl perla perlă
183torture tortura tortură
184cross croce cruce
185interrogation interrogatorio interogatoriu
186corporal caporale caporal
187passport passaporto pașaport
188cabin cabina cabana
189senator senatore senator
190cost costo cost
191laser laser laser
192commercial commerciale comercial
193elevator ascensore ascensor
194tumor tumore tumoare
195heroine eroina heroină
196method metodo metodă
197electric elettrica electric
198concentrated concentrato concentrat
199toast toast toast
200cream crema cremă
201invisible invisibile invizibil
202student studente student
203exciting eccitante excitant
204fleet flotta flotă
205hamburger hamburger hamburger
206sms sms sms
207honey miele miere
208gentleman gentiluomo gentilom
209mystery mistero mister
210eternal eterno etern
211paranoid paranoico paranoic
212organism organismo organism
213pagan pagano păgân
214vagina vagina vagin
215dentist dentista dentist
216infirmary infermeria infirmerie
217allergic allergico alergic
218temperature temperatura temperatură
219kit kit kit
220selfish egoista egoist
221territory territorio teritoriu
222protocol protocollo protocolul
223religious religioso religios
224trafficker trafficante traficant
225gangster gangster gangster
226academy accademia academie
227measure misura măsură
228vagabond vagabondo vagabond
229surgery chirurgia chirurgie
230tiger tigre tigru
231scotch scotch scotch
232violated violato violat
233liter litro litru
234marijuana marijuana marijuana
235bandit bandito bandit
236to communicate comunicare comunica
237to combine combinare combina
238box box box
239capital capitale capital
240accomplice complice complice
241italian italiano italian
242conference conferenza conferință
243arrogant arrogante arogant
244division divisione diviziune
245infinite infinito infinite
246valid valido valid
247ninja ninja ninja
248yoga yoga yoga
249dvd dvd dvd
250confession confessione confesiune
251prostitute prostituta prostituată
252vodka vodka vodcă
253authority autorità autoritate
254fox volpe vulpe
255zoo zoo zoo
256picnic picnic picnic
257autograph autografo autograf
258mechanic meccanico mecanic
259to detest detestare detesta
260to reject respingere respinge
261maniac maniaco maniac
262intense intenso intens
263reward ricompensa recompensă
264gin gin gin
265bowling bowling bowling
266whiskey whiskey whiskey
267category categoria categorie
268authorized autorizzato autorizați
269chaos caos haos
270elegant elegante elegant
271cerebral cerebrale cerebral
272perimeter perimetro perimetru
273sperm sperma spermă
274military militari militar
275orbit orbita orbită
276to sacrifice sacrificare sacrifica
277tie cravatta cravată
278tequila tequila tequila
279financial finanziari financiar
280caliber calibro calibru
281international internazionale internațional
282armed armato armaţi
283epidemic epidemia epidemie
284to intervene intervenire interveni
285wool lana lană
286to complete completare completa
287crown corona coronă
288homeland patria patrie
289baron barone baron
290monitor monitor monitor
291ribs coste coaste
292norm norma normă
293license licenza licență
294karma karma karmă
295to prevent prevenire preveni
296ritual rituale ritual
297vague vago vag
298silent silenzioso silenţios
299agitated agitato agitat
300cocaine cocaina cocaină

Tips

Frequently asked questions

Why are so many Italian and Romanian words nearly identical?

Both languages descend from Latin, so much of their core vocabulary — pairs like fantastico/fantastic or serio/serios — goes back to the same Latin roots, even though each language also developed its own influences over time.

If I already know Italian, can I understand Romanian right away?

You'll recognize a surprising number of words immediately thanks to overlaps like vita/viață or persona/persoană, but Romanian grammar and pronunciation still need separate study — shared vocabulary isn't the same as fluency.

Do these word pairs always mean exactly the same thing?

They are paired because the spellings are identical or very close and they share an English meaning, but gender, register or everyday usage can still differ, so treat a close spelling as a useful clue rather than a guarantee.

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