English → Latin
“befit” in Latin
aptussuitable, adapted; ready; apt, properdecetto adorn; to be decent, suitable, seemly, or properconveniōto convene, assemble, gather, meet or come together; to accost, to call on; to sue, to let be summoned to court
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
befit
aptum, accommodatum esse alicui rei or ad aliquid; idoneum esse ad aliquid: convonire ad aliquid (be suitable to the nature of anything, and therefore befitting it). ☞ Neither respondere alicui rei, nor quadrare ad aliquid, nor congruere alicui rei, are here applicable: decere with an accusative of the person (become): aequum est; par est, with an infinitive; convenit, with an accusative and infinitive (it is proper, etc.), it is not befitting, non decet; not at all befitting, minime decet, both with the accusative and infinitive: it is not at all befitting for an orator to be in a passion, oratorem irasci minime decet: “it befits” is sometimes translated by est with the genitive; as, it befits a young man, est juvenis; but if the object is a personal pronoun, the possessive pronoun takes its place; as, it befits thee, tuum est.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for befit?
- The usual Latin words for “befit” are aptus, decet, conveniō. 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.