English → Latin
“disinterested” in Latin
grātuītusfreely given, free, gratuitous; vain, fruitless, futilelīberālitāsfrankness, affability; generosity, liberalitymercēnāriushired for pay; mercenary
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
disinterested
qui nihil de utilitatibus, nihil de commodis suis cogitat (after Cic., Fin., 1, 10, 34): *qui commodis suis utilitatique non servit: qui sua cupiditate non impellitur (☞ Cic., Off., 1, 19, 63): utilitatis suae immemor (of persons who don’t think of their own advantages): gratuitus (opposed to mercenarius; of things; e.g., liberalitas): non praemiorum mercedibus evocatus (Cic., Fin., 2, 31, 99: with non invitatus voluptatibus). Not disinterested, *suarum rerum cupidus: de utilitatibus suis semper cogitans: ad utilitatem suam omnia referens, etc. (of persons): mercenarius (of actions). Is anything disinterested or not? aliquid gratuitumne est an mercenarium? Our love for anything should be disinterested, etiamsi nulla sit utilitas ex aliqua re: tamen ipsa propter se ipsam amanda est (after Cic., Fin., 1, 20, 69). He has acted in the most disinterested manner, nihil ad utilitatem suam retulit, ac nihil omnino fecit causa sua: to be disinterested, suae utilitatis immemorem esse.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for disinterested?
- The usual Latin words for “disinterested” are grātuītus, līberālitās, mercēnārius. 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.