LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
English → Latin

“cost” in Latin

The English word cost itself goes back to Latin cōnstō, through cōstō.

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

cost s.
Price, pretium. [Vid. PRICE, or (if it is price of corn), Vid: CORN].
Expense, sumptus: impensa; impendium; arbitria, plur., neuter [SYN. in EXPENSE]: at anybody’s cost, impendio alicujus: the cost of a funeral, arbitria funeris (PROP., fees paid to the persons who assisted at it, and for fixing which an “arbiter” was employed): at one’s own cost, privato sumptu; impendio privato; sua pecunia; de suo: at the public cost, publico sumpto: de publico: publice; impensa publica; impendio publico: at a great cost, magna impensa: without any cost, nulla impensa: nullo sumpto. To my cost, cum magno meo damno. [Vid: EXPENSE.]
Costs = legal expenses, impensae in litem factae (Paullus, Dig., 3, 3, 30): to condemn anybody in the costs, damnare in expensas: let him be compelled to pay both damages and costs, et damnum et impensas litis adversario inferre cogatur (Justinus, Instit., 4, 16, 1).
cost v.
e.g., anything costs so and so much, aliquid stat or constat, mostly with ablative of the price: aliquid est, with genitive of the price: aliquid venit or venditur (anything is sold at): emitur (anything is bought at): licet aliquid (to have such a price bid for it); all these generally with ablativeof the price: anything has cost me so much, emi aliquid (with ablativeof the price); stat mihi aliquid (with ablative.); in aliqua re consumo (with accusative of the sum spent; i. e., I spend so much in anything; e.g., the siege of Samos cost the Athenians twelve hundred talents, in Samo oppugnanda Athenienses MCC talenta consumpserunt): to cost but little, parvo stare, or constare, or venire, or vendi, or licere: [SYN. ABOVE.] To cost but half as much, dimidio minoris constare (Cic.): to cost nothing, gratis or nihilo constare: to cost more, pluris stare, vendi or licere: not to cost more, aliquid non excedere (e.g., centenos numos). How much do these gardens cost? quanti licent hi horti? ☞ The question,” what does such a thing cost?” is often expressed by quanti and a verb corresponding with the nature of the object, the price of which one wishes to know; e.g., how much did it cost him? quanti emit? what does your dinner cost you? quanti cenas? What does the passage cost you on board this vessel? quanti vehit navis? It has cost me a good deal of money and labour, nec impensae nec labori peperci: the victory cost many lives, victoria multo sanguine stetit: the victory cost the Romans, as well as their enemies, a good many lives, nec Romanis incruenta victoria fuit: the victory cost no lives, victoria sine sanguine stetit; victoria baud cruenta fuit: anything costs anybody’s life, aliquid morte alicujus stat or constat (i. e., it is obtained by the sacrifice of his life); *aliquid causa est, quare aliquis necetur (is the cause of anybody’s death): the war has cost a great many lives, bellum multos homines absumsit: it costs a great deal of trouble or labour, (res) est multi laboris: it has cost me a great struggle with my feelings, vix a me or ab animo meo impetrare potui, ut, etc.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for cost?
The usual Latin words for “cost” are pretium, sūmō, impēnsa; also impendium, arbitrium, cōnstō. 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.