English → Latin
“design” in Latin
cōgitōto think; to ponder, meditate, reflect, consider (i.e. think of, about, over); to intend, design, purpose, plan, devise animuslife, life force, soul, vitality (that life-giving aspect which animates a thing); conscience, intellect, mind, reason, parōto arrange, order, contrive, design; to provide, furnish, prepare; to resolve, purpose, decidemōliorto strive, endeavor, work at; to put in motion, shake, move; to rouse, bestircōnstituōto place, put, locate, lay; to set up, establish, constitute, found; to build, erect, constructdēstinōto bind, fasten, secure, fix, make fast; to establish, determine, resolve, consider, predict, destine; to intend, devotedēlīneōto delineate, sketch out, outlinedēsignōto mark; to trace out; to outline, describedēscrībōto copy off or transcribe something from the original, write down, write out; to describe in painting or writing, draw, dēpingōto depict, to paint, to portray, to represent by painting; to paint, to colour
The English word design itself goes back to Latin signum, through designō.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
design v.
Purpose, intend, in animo habere: cogitare; agitare (in) mente or (in) animo: parare (to prepare): moliri (mostly of some difficult purpose): agitare de aliqua re; moliri aliquid: constituere (to fix; to purpose): destinare (e.g., quae agere destinaverat). [Vid: To PURPOSE, To INTEND.]
To draw an outline or sketch, delineare; designare; describere (not used absolutely, but always with the object expressed; e.g., imaginem, or some such word): depingere; describere (figuratively): to design skilfully, probe depingere aliquid: to be skilled in the art of designing, graphidos scientiam habere. Vid: To DRAW.
design
Purpose, consilium (plan or purpose): coeptum; inceptum (beginning, or undertaking): propositum (intention or purpose): institutum (that which anybody intends to put into execution): cogitata, plur., quod cogito (what is in the thoughts, or will): my design, res, quam paro; institutum meum: to betray or discover his designs, consilium or cogitata patefacere: to execute his design, consilium exsequi; propositum peragere: to have a design to injure, habere voluntatem nocendi: to entertain hostile designs against the state, contra rempublicam sentire: to form great designs, magna meditari or moliri.
Sketch, plan, designatio; adumbratio: deformatio (delineation): forma; figura; species (sketch): imago (outline): descriptio; ichnographia (ground plan): a design for a house, aedificandi descriptio (e.g., usus, ad quem accommodanda est aedificandi descriptio, Cic.).
Drawing, graphis, idos, f. (γραφίς), or in pure Latin, pictura linearis: to be skilful in the art of design, graphidos scientiam habere; graphidos non imperitum esse.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for design?
- The usual Latin words for “design” are cōgitō, animus, parō; also mōlior, cōnstituō, dēstinō. 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.