English → Latin
“descant” in Latin
longusfar, long; extended, prolonged (of space, in general); remote, distant, far off; great, vast, spaciouslātuswide, broad; spacious, extensive; wide-rangingverbōsuswordy, verbose, prolixacuōto make pointed, sharpen, whet; to exercise, practice, improve; to spur, stimulate, arouseattenuōto make thin, attenuate, thin, reduce; to make weak, weaken, lessen, diminish, attenuate, enfeebleverbōsitāsverbosity, wordinessānfrāctusbend, curve, turning; curvature; circuit, revolutionambāgēsan indirect, roundabout path; a wandering to and fro, twists and turns; circumlocution, ambiguity, evasion, digression,
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
descant v.
vocem ab acutissimo sono usque ad gravissimum sonum recipere (Cic., De Or., 1, 59).
To descant or be prolix on any subject, nimium esse in aliqua re; copiose et abundanter dicere; fuse et late dicere; upon anything, uberius et fusius de aliqua re disputare (opposed to brevius et angustius); also dilatare aliquid (opposed to premere aliquid): to descant or speak more than is necessary, longius, latius, et diffusius dicere; verbosius, quam necesse erat.
descant s.
vox summa, or acuta, or attenuata.
Prolix discussion, verbositas (using too many words, as a quality, late): anfractus; ambages (by circumlocution): to ring a descant, ambages narrare (Terentianus, Heaut., 2, 3, 77).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for descant?
- The usual Latin words for “descant” are longus, lātus, verbōsus; also acuō, attenuō, verbōsitās. 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.