English → Latin
“dignity” in Latin
dignitāsworth, worthiness, merit, desert; fitness, suitability; rank, status, standing, esteem, dignityhonestusfull of or regarded with honor; honorable; of high birth; noble; distinguished; respectable; eminent; bring or deservinggravitāsweight, heaviness; gravity, seriousness; severity, harshnessauctōritāscredibility, prestige, reputation, importance; influence, weight, personal weight; power, ability, authorityamplitūdōA wide extent; breadth, width, amplitude, size, bulk, multiplicity, abundance.; Greatness; dignity, grandeur, prestige, maiestāsmajesty, greatness, grandeur, prestige; dignity, honor, splendorcōnservōto conserve, to preserve, to save, to guard, to protect; to maintain (i.e., uphold)
The English word dignity itself goes back to Latin dignus, through dignitās.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
dignity
dignitas (= “alicujus honesta et cultu et honore et verecundia digna auctoritas,” Cic.: his position as honorable, whether from personal advantages or rank in society): honestas (moral worth; a man’s claims to respect founded on his conduct): gravitas (serious, earnest character; a mild dignity, comitate condita gravitas): auctoritas (weight and influence): amplitudo (dignified position in society, whether the consequence of power, rank, wealth, or achievements; in rhetoric = fullness and dignity of expression): majestas (the dignity of a state or ruler). To act with dignity, cum dignitate agere or agere cum dignitate et venustate; honeste se gerere: to preserve one’s dignity, dignitatem retinere or conservare; nihil a dignitate sua discedere: to forget one’s dignity, decoris oblivisci: to think anything beneath one’s dignity, infra se ducere; infra se positum arbitrari; alienum ducere majestate sua; non censere esse majestatis suae; inferius majestate sua reri: to have reached such a height of rank and dignity, in hanc celsissimam sedem dignitatis atque honoris ascendisse: to raise anybody from a low condition to the height of rank and dignity, aliquem ex humili loco ad summam dignitatem perducere: he thought it inconsistent both with his own dignity and that of the Roman nation, neque suae neque populi Romani dignitatis esse statuebat (Caes.).
A dignity, dignitas (general term): gradus honoris. A very high dignity, summum fastigium; amplissimus dignitatis gradus. Vid: an HONOR, an OFFICE.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for dignity?
- The usual Latin words for “dignity” are dignitās, honestus, gravitās; also auctōritās, amplitūdō, maiestās. 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.