English → Latin
“austere” in Latin
austērusaustere, plain; harsh, bitter, sour; sharp, pungent, tartsevērussevere, serious, strict, stern, stringent, austere, harsh, grave (in demeanor)tetricusforbidding, harsh, crabbed, gloomy, sour, stern, severedifficilisdifficult, hard, troublesome; obstinate, intractable, hard to please or managemōrōsuscaptious, persnickety, fastidious, difficult (to please); peevish, wayward, capricioustrīstissad, unhappy, melancholy, morose; sorrowful, mournful; disagreeable, harsh, bitter (of taste)mītismild, mellow, mature, ripe; sweet, juicy, succulent; light, fruitful, mellow.; calm, gentle, placid
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
austere
austerus (αὐστηρός: making the tongue dry and rough; harsh). Somewhat austere, subausterus.
Of character: austerus (opposed to jucundus or mitis: one who is an enemy to jocularityand frivolity, always seeking what is serious and real, at the risk of passing for dull): severus (opposed to comis: rigid, exacting from himself and others strictness of conduct, at the risk of being thought harsh): tetricus (rigidly stiff and constrained, from pedantry and want of temper: of persons or habits, discipline, etc.): difficilis (not understanding the art of cosy and agreeable conversation and intercourse from hypochondria and temperament): morosus (wishing everything to be done according to rule, from intolerant scrupulosity): tristis (opposed to hilaris: gloomy; moody; scorning the agreeable).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for austere?
- The usual Latin words for “austere” are austērus, sevērus, tetricus; also difficilis, mōrōsus, trīstis. 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.