English → Latin
“assail” in Latin
adoriorto assail, assault, attack; to accost, approach; to undertake, initiate, engage inincurrōto run into or towards; to attack, invade; to happen (to), befall, occur, to incurincursōto run to or against, dash or strike against; assault, attack, charge at; to fall upon, assault a woman carnallyimpugnōto attack, fight against; to impugn, assail
The English word assail itself goes back to Latin saliō, through assalio.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
assail
adoriri, aggredi aliquem; impetum facere or invadere in aliquem (all of enemies: invadere also of dogs): incurrere, incursare in with accusative (of running wildly against; e.g., of dogs, also the proper word of cavalry): tentare aliquem (of diseases): oppugnare aliquem (also especially of attacking a city; urbem oppugnare or impugnare): insectari aliquem vehementius: invehi in aliquem acerbius (of assailing with hard words). To assail with the sword, ferro petere aliquem, or (of provoking him; of acting on the offensive) ferro lacessere aliquem. To assail anybody from behind, a tergo adoriri aliquem: to assail any body with stones, aliquem saxis incessere: with prayers, entreaties, etc., precibus agere cum aliquo: precibus fatigare aliquem (to weary him with prayers): orare aliquem supplicibus verbis: to assail any body with prayers and almost with tears, omnibus precibus, paene lacrimis etiam obsecrare aliquem.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for assail?
- The usual Latin words for “assail” are adorior, incurrō, incursō; also impugnō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.