English → Latin
“eclipse” in Latin
dēfectiōdefection, desertion; rebellion, revolt (of a city); failing, failure, deficiency, want, disappearance, declinedēficiōto move away, leave, withdraw, break away; to be exhausted, run out, fail, run out, be wanting, fail, cease, disappear, sōlusalone, sole, only, by oneself with no others around; solitary, uninhabitedobscūrōto darken, obscure; to conceal, hide; to blind, becloud understandinglaudōto praise, laud, extol; to commend, honor; to eulogizeglōriaglory, renown, fame, honorfāmafame; rumour, talk, opinion, report; reputationnōmenname; short for nomen gentile, nomen, the family name in a Roman name, indicating the person's gens; title
The English word eclipse itself goes back to Latin eclīpsis.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
eclipse s.
defectio: defectus: of the sun, etc., solis, etc. ☞ Eclipsis is post-classical and rare: it can only be allowed as astronomical technical term.
eclipse v.
PROP., obscurare: to be eclipsed, obscurari (of sun, moon, stars): deficere (of sun and moon).
IMPROPR. To eclipse anybody (not obscurare aliquem, but) alicujus laudem (of several, laudes), gloriam, famam, nomen, nominis famam obscurare: alicui fulgore quodam claritatis suae tenebras obducere.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for eclipse?
- The usual Latin words for “eclipse” are dēfectiō, dēficiō, sōlus; also obscūrō, laudō, glōria. 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.