English → Latin
“couch” in Latin
cubīlebed; marriage bed; couchsternōto spread, stretch out, spread out; to calm, still, moderate; to cover, spread with, scatter with, bestrew with, besprinprōsternōto strew in front of; to prostrate, knock down, throw to the ground; to overthrow or subvertcollocōto place, put, set in order, assign, arrange; to put together, assemble; to settledispōnōto dispose, distribute or arrangelatusside, flank; side (e.g., of a shape)litteraletter (of the alphabet); handwriting; letter, epistledēcumbōto lie down or recline; to fall (in a fight)prōcumbōto fall forward; to sink down; to prostrate (oneself)subsīdōto crouch, squat, sit down, set down, sink; to settle, subside; to crouch down on the watch, lie in wait, lie in ambush
The English word couch itself goes back to Latin locō, through collocō.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
couch
cubile (general term, also that of wild beasts in a forest). Vid: BED.
couch
TRANS., sternere, prosternere. To couch one’s self any where, se abdere in occultum (of persons). To be couched under anything, latere or abditum latere sub aliqua re. [Vid: To CONCEAL.]
To place in ambush, in insidiis locare, collocare, or disponere. [Vid.
couch
INTRANS.]
To couch a lance, spear, etc., hastam porrigere, less commonly projicere (to extend it, e.g., as a bayonet; Vid: Brem. on Nep. Chabr., 1, 2): hastam ad ictum parare. To receive an attack with their lances couched, projecta hasta impetum excipere hostium (Nep., Chabr., 1, 2): to ride against anybody with couched lance, infesto spiculo petere aliquem (Liv., 2, 20), with lances couched, infestis hastis (e.g., concitare equos, Liv., 23, 47); infestis cuspidibus (e.g., ruere in medium agmen hostium, Liv., 10, 41).
To operate on the eye, *glaucomam oculis alicujus objectam solvere.
To couch in writing, litteris consignare; litteris or scriptis mandare; per scripturam complecti; conscribere.
couch
INTR.,
Lie down, throw one’s self down; sterni: se or corpus abjicere: decumbere: procumbere (general terms as well of persons as animals): subsidere (to sink down): conquiniscere (pre-classical, Plaut. = caput inclinare, Prisc.): to couch in the grass, se abjicere in herba (☞ not in herbam, Vid: Interpp., Cic., De Or., 1, 7, quite at the end): cubare (to rest): recubare: recumbere (with accessory notion of leaning backward). To couch down when the enemy hurled their darts, subsidere adversus emissa tela (Liv.): to couch down in the rear, subsidere in subsidiis (Cic.).
To lie in secret or ambush, delitescere in aliquo loco; se abdere in locum; se occultare loco or in loco (hide one’s self; SYN. in HIDE): latibulis se tegere (of wild beasts): abditum latere; in occulto se continere; abditum et inclusum in occulto latere (to keep one’s self hidden): subsidere in insidiis (of an ambush): to couch, or be couched in ambush, in insidiis esse or subsistere.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for couch?
- The usual Latin words for “couch” are cubīle, sternō, prōsternō; also collocō, dispōnō, latus. 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.