English → Latin
“begin” in Latin
incipiōto begin, to commenceōrdiorto begin; to begin to weave, lay the warp; to start talking aboutexōrdiorto begin, commence (originally in weaving)lūcēscōto begin to shine; to dawn (growslight)dīlūcēscōto dawn (begin to grow light)illūcēscōto begin to dawn; to begin to light upūsōto use; to enjoy use ofdēsinōto leave off, give over, give up; to cease, desist, stop; to stop, end, close, make an endperagōto pierce, transfix; to traverse, pass through; to harass, disturb, annoypergōgo on, proceed, hasten, press on; wake up, awaken, arouse
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
begin
incipere; inchoare; ordiri or exordiri (incipere denotes beginning, in opposition to leaving off; opposed to cessare, desinere, etc.: inchoare, in opposition to completing; opposed to perficere, peragere, etc.: ordiri or exordiri, in opposition to advancement: opposed to continuare, pergere, etc., Döderlein): initium facere alicujus rei: aggredi aliquid, or ad aliquid faciendum (to begin, or set to, to anything): to begin a statue, signum instituere: coepisse (followed by an infinitive): he began the slaughter with me, caedis initium fecit a me: to begin again, alicujus rei telam retexere. Cf, . Before the passive infinitive the perfect of coepisse is coeptus est, or coeptum est: we are beginning to be consulted, consuli coeptisumus: they begin throwing the vessels, vasa conjici coepta sunt: to begin a speech, initium dicendi facere; exordior dicere; aggredi ad dicendum: to begin a lawsuit. litem intendere alicui; a quarrel or action, causam jurgii inferre. INTR., incipere (of persons and things): initium facere, with anybody or anything (i. e., to take him or it first), ab aliquo or ab aliqua re: let my speech end where it began, unde est orsa, in eo terminetur oratio: the new year begins with sharp frosts, frigoribus novus incipit annus (Ov., Fast., 1, 149): the name begins with a C., C est principium nomini (Plaut., Trin., 4, 2, 70): one division of the Gauls begins at the Rhone, Gallorum una pars a Rhodano incipit: the country of the Belgae begins at the extremity of Gaul, Belgae ab extremis Galliaefinibus oriuntur. The ridge begins at the sea, jugum montis a mari surgit.
To be in an incipient state; mostly translated by inchoative verbs in scere: it begins to grow light, lucescit; dilucescit; illucescit: it begins to be warm, calescit.
Idiomatic uses: why don’t you begin? quid stas? quid statis? the battle begins, proelium committitur; hostes acie concurrunt. Never, etc., since the world began, nunquam, etc., post homines natos, post hominum memoriam (not post initium or ab initio mundi): to begin well and end badly, bonis initiis ordiri, tristes exitus habere (of events).
“To begin” may sometimes be translated by primum: to begin by telling one’s name, nomen primum memorare.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for begin?
- The usual Latin words for “begin” are incipiō, ōrdior, exōrdior; also lūcēscō, dīlūcēscō, illūcēscō. 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.