English → Latin
“dictionary” in Latin
lexicona dictionary, a lexiconcōnficiōto prepare, accomplish, complete, execute; settle, close a bargain; traverse; to produce, cause, bring about, effect, seegō̆I; first person singular personal pronoun, nominative case
The English word dictionary itself goes back to Latin dīcō, through dictiōnārium.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
dictionary
lexicon (λεξικόν; alphabetical index, etc., of names and words): *onomasticon (ὀνομαστικόν; collection of words and names, arranged according to their subjects). ☞ Dictionarium belongs to the barbarous Latin of the Middle Ages. A copious dictionary, *thesaurus verborum: a small or pocket dictionary, *index verborum: to make a dictionary, lexicon condere, conficere; Ruhnken has *Latinae linguae thesaurum construere. I find him a walking dictionary, mihi, quoties aliquid abditum quaero, ille thesaurus est (Plin., Ep., 1, 22, 2).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for dictionary?
- The usual Latin words for “dictionary” are lexicon, cōnficiō, egō̆. 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.