English → Latin
“contact” in Latin
tāctiōa touching (not found outside the set phrase tāctiō esse, see usage notes); the sense of touch; (countable) a sensing bytangōto touch, grasp; to reach, arrive at, come to a place; to attain tocontingōto touch on all sides, take hold of, come into contact with; to reach (by moving), attain to, come to, arrive at, meet wcontāgiōcontact, touch; intercourse (social); influencemuliera woman, female; a wife; a coward, poltroonvirman (adult male human); brave or courageous man, hero, warrior; husband
The English word contact itself goes back to Latin tangō, through contactus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
contact
tactio: tactus (a touching): contactus (e.g., mulieris, viri: also, IMPROP., contactus valentiorum: and = “contagious example,” Tac.): contagio (contact, in a good or bad sense: contagium only in poets [in plur.], and in post-Augustan prose): not to come into contact with anything, ne minima quidem alicujus rei societate contingi: point of contact, *punctum contactus (PROP., in geometry): angle of contact (where two lines cross each other), *angulus contactus.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for contact?
- The usual Latin words for “contact” are tāctiō, tangō, contingō; also contāgiō, mulier, vir. 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.