English → Latin
“dim” in Latin
hebesblunt, dull, not sharp or pointed; dim, faint, dull; tasteless, without smell, without sensation; dull, obtuse, sluggishobscūrusdark, dusky, shadowy; indistinct, unintelligible, obscure; intricate, involved, complicatedsubobscūrussomewhat obscuresuffuscusbrownish, darkish, or off-colourlanguidusfaint, weak; dull, languid; sluggish, slowlangueōto be faint, weak; to be inactive, listless, idleinerswithout skill, unskilled, unskillful, incompetent, crude; inactive, lazy, idle, indolent, sluggish, inert; worthless; stmargarītapearl; a term of endearmenthebēscōto become blunt or dull; to become blunt, dull, dim, faint, ineffectivehebetōto make something blunt, dull, dim; to dull, blunt, make stupid; to weaken, deaden
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
dim
hebes (the proper word, blunted, then, figuratively, of sight and the other organs of sense; of light and color; of the intellect. (The words are found in this connection and order.) hebes et tardus, of the senses): obscurus: subobscurus (Cic.; but only figuratively of style): subfuscus (brownish; e.g., margarita, Tac.): languidus: languens (wanting life, spirit, or brightness; e.g., of color, light, expression, etc.): iners (dull, sluggish; e.g., of the eyes, a look, etc.): To grow dim, hebescere (of the eyes; of precious stones; of the stars; ☞ hebetescere, post-Augustan, and rare): sensim obscurari (of the recollection of anything, Cic.: memoria sensim obscurata est et evanuit): languescere (of light or color e.g., luna, Tac.): to be dim, hebetem esse; hebere: sensim obscuratum esse et evanescere (Cic., ; of the recollection of anything): languere (of the moon, Propertius): to make anything dim [Vid: To DIM]. Dim lights, languida lumina (Plin.). A dim color, color languidus, lentus: a dim yellow, languescens in luteum color (Plin.). His eyes are dim, oculi caecutiunt (Varr. ap. Non): his eyes wax dim, acies oculorum hebescit. Dim-sighted, hebes: lusciosus: luscitiosus ( “qui vespere non videt’ or “qui interdiu non videt “): lippus (blear-eyed).
dim v.
hebetare (not in Cic., nor pre-Augustan, ; visus alicui, Verg.; oculorum aciem, lunam, etc., Plin.): obscurum facere: obscurare (e.g., lumen lucernae, Cic.; also of weakening the recollection of anything): obscuritatem afferre alicui rei (Cic.).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for dim?
- The usual Latin words for “dim” are hebes, obscūrus, subobscūrus; also suffuscus, languidus, langueō. 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.