What is the Latin word for deny?

The usual Latin words for “deny” are negō, abnuō, īnfitior; also diffiteor, prōsum, dēserō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“deny” in Latin

negōto deny; to refuse, say no; to reject, refuse, say no to (something), turn down abnuōto say no, to nod in negation; to refuse, reject; to deny īnfitiorto deny, contradict, disown diffiteorto deny, disavow, disown prōsumto be useful or of use, do good, help, benefit, profit; to serve; to be good or beneficial dēserōto leave, depart, desert, quit; to forsake, abandon, give up; to let down cōnfiteorto confess, admit; to acknowledge, agree; to reveal, show dēnegōto deny, reject or refuse (a request); to say no pernegōto deny entirely; to refuse flatly

The English word deny itself goes back to Latin nec, through denegare.

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

deny

Affirm that the thing is not so, negare (especially to make a negative assertion; opposed to dicere, to make an affirmative assertion, or say that anything is so) :abnuere (to deny by signs, opposed to annuere): intitias ire; infitiari (to deny a fact; especially in which one’s personal interest is concerned; such as being in debt to anybody: opposed to confiteri, to acknowledge a debt): diffiteri (very rare; opposed to profited, confiteri): I will never deny, numquam diffitebor (with accusative and infinitive Planc, ap. Cic., Epp., 10, 8, 4): to deny utterly, denegare: to deny stedfastly, pernegare.

To refuse to grant, negare aliquid: recusare aliquid and de re (to deny or refuse for certain reasons): renuere aliquid (to deny or refuse by a shake of the head): to deny anything to anybody, petenti alicui aliquid denegare; petenti alicui deesse; preces alicujus repudiare: to deny anything faintly, subnegare aliquid: to deny in a courteous manner, belle negare: to deny plainly or flatly, praecise negare; sine ulla exceptione, or plane negare: neither nature nor learning appears to have denied him anything, ei nihil a natura denegatum, neque a doctrina non delatum videtur: the gods have denied them silver and gold, argentum et aurum dii iis negaverunt: to deny the rites of burial to anybody, aliquem sepultnra prohibere: to deny one’s self anything, aliqua re se abstinere: strength is denied me, vires deficiunt.

To deny anybody (= say that he is not at home), negare aliquem domi esse: to order one’s self to be denied, negare (Martisalis, 2, 5, 5).

To deny a person (= say one does not know him) [as Peter denied our Lord], negare se aliquem novisse, infitiari notitiam alicujus (Ov., Pont., 4, 6, 42): deserere (to desert him).

To be faithless to [as in “to deny the faith”], prodere [e.g., fidem, officium]: deserere or deserere ac prodere: to deny the faith, *sacra Christiana deserere.

To deny one’s self (= exert self-denial), haud ullum sui respectum habere (Liv. 42, 9); abstrahere se respectu rerum suarum (Liv. 31, 46, etc.): to deny one’s self in all things, semper omnia, quae jucunda videntur, ipsi naturae ac necessitati denegare (after Cic., 2 Verr., 5, 14, 35): to deny one’s self (pleasures), voluptates repudiare (Cic.).

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for deny?: The usual Latin words for “deny” are negō, abnuō, īnfitior; also diffiteor, prōsum, dēserō. 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.