English → Latin
“describe” in Latin
dēscrībōto copy off or transcribe something from the original, write down, write out; to describe in painting or writing, draw, perscrībōto write out; to write in full or in detailēnārrōto explain in detail, to expoundēnumerōto count out or over; to reckon up; to enumeratetrādōto hand over, give up, deliver, transmit, surrender; impart; entrust, confide; to leave behind, bequeath; to give up or effingōto form, fashion; to represent, portray, express, depict; imitate, copy; to wipe out, wipe cleanexprimōto squeeze out; to press (out); to express; to imitate or copy
The English word describe itself goes back to Latin dē, through dēscrībō.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
describe
Show or represent by words, describere: perscribere (describe fully): verbis exsequi: scriptura persequi (to represent by a written description or narrative): explicare aliquid or de re (give an explanation; enter into detail about anything): exponere aliquid or de re (to set anything, as it were, before the eyes; give a lucid description of, etc.): Sometimes enarrare: enumerare: litteris mandare: memoriae prodere or tradere: verbis depingere, effingere, exprimere: exprimere et effingere verbis (make clear by a description): verbis definire (to give a logical description of). (The words are found in this connection and order.) definire verbis*et describere; illustrare verbisque definire. To describe in a few words, breviter describere, exponere, complecti: to describe in many words, stilo uberiori explicare: to describe in verse, versibus describere, exponere, persequi: to describe anybody’s actions, res alicujus persequi (Cic.); anybody’s life, vitam alicujus explicare (Cic., Coecilius, 8, 27); vitam alicujus depingere (Cic., Rosc., Am., 27); de vita alicujus exponere; imaginem vitae alicujus exprimere: to describe a person, exprimere aliquem, scribere de aliquo: to describe a man shortly, aliquem informare (Cic., Att., 7, 3, 2).
To describe a geometrical figure, scribere; describere: to describe a square, quadratum paribus lateribus describere: to describe a circle with a (given) centre, a centro circumagere lineam rotundationis (Vitrvius, 1, 6; Vid: CIRCLE): to describe figures in the dust, formas in pulvere describere.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for describe?
- The usual Latin words for “describe” are dēscrībō, perscrībō, ēnārrō; also ēnumerō, trādō, effingō. 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.