The German word die Kartoffel, stems from tartufolo, which is Italian and — of course — eventually came from the Latin terrae tuber (tuber from the earth). Moving on from food, but staying with terms of Latin origin: der Januar, as the Germans say, or der Jänner, as the Austrians say. The history of how der Januar came together is quickly recalled: The Latin suffix -us was common in German until the 18th century, before it was dropped in order to make the word sound more German.