What is the Latin word for catch?

The usual Latin words for “catch” are capiō, comprehendō, accipiō; also excipiō, legō, dēcipiō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“catch” in Latin

capiōto take, to capture, to catch, to seize, to take captive, to storm; to take on, adopt; to hold, to contain comprehendōto lay hold of something on all sides; take or catch hold of, grasp, grip; to seize upon in a hostile manner, lay hold o accipiōto receive, accept, take; to receive, accept, or take in something so as to alter one’s mental or physical state; to hea excipiōto take out, extract, pull out; to except, exempt from, exclude; to rescue, release legōto collect, gather, bring together, catch; to choose, select; to appoint dēcipiōto catch, ensnare, entrap, deceive, mislead, beguile, elude, cheat circumveniōto surround; to beset, oppress, distress, overthrow; to circumvent, deceive, cheat, trick percipiōto seize or take on (entirely); assume; earn; occupy, keep (i.e. maintain control); to perceive, observe, notice; to fee assequorto follow someone in order to come up to him; pursue, go after; to overtake, come up with, reach, catch up; to gain, obt captōto strive to seize, catch or grasp at; to seek, aim at

The English word catch itself goes back to Latin capiō, through captio.

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

catch v.

capere (also, figuratively, to ensnare by deceit or captivate by attractions): comprehendere (seize: a thief): accipere: excipere (catch; e.g., a ball; excipere, especially when it was thrown up high): legere (pick up; e.g., oysters): decipere: circumvenire (catch by deceit). To try to catch, captare (e.g., flies, a ball: also men, of prostitutes): to catch in any act. etc., deprehendere in re. To be caught in the act of stealing, in furto teneri. To catch fire, ignem (flammam) concipere; ignem comprehendere: scintillas excipere (of tinder: fungus aridus scintillas excipit, Plin.): apt to catch fire, concipiendo igni aptus; concipiendis ignibus idoneus; ignis capacissimus; facilis ad exardescendum (the last also of being of a fiery temper): to catch a disease, morbum nancisci; morbum or valetudinem contrahere; eadem vi morbi repleri (by infection) [Vid: DISEASE]: to catch one’s death, *in morbum gravem et mortiferum incidere: *morbum mortiferum contrahere: *morbo mortifero implicari: to catch cold, perfrigescere: to catch an opponent, adversarium capere (by captious questions. etc.): to catch anybody by captious questions, captiosis interrogationibus circumscribere et decipere aliquem: the fire catches anything, ignis or flamma comprehendit, corripit aliquid: to catch hold of anybody, aliquem prehendere, comprehendere, arripere: by the waist, aliquem medium amplecti.

Seize the meaning, capere: intelligere (mente): percipere: assequi.

Catch at, captare: an opportunity, occasionem capere, arripere: to eagerly catch at the opportunity, libenter facultatem (aliquid faciendi) arripere; occasionem aliquid faciendi avidissime amplecti (Plin.).

catch s.

act of catching; captura.

Thing caught, quod capit aliquis: praeda.

Gain, lucrum, fructus, commodum [Vid: ADVANTAGE].

Of a lock. etc., perhaps ansa or ansa ferrea (iron hook, cramp, Vitr.), or fibula (for holdine two things together).

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for catch?: The usual Latin words for “catch” are capiō, comprehendō, accipiō; also excipiō, legō, dēcipiō. 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.