What is the Latin word for engagement?

The usual Latin words for “engagement” are pugna, proelium, aciēs; also certāmen, concurrō, congressus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“engagement” in Latin

pugnaa fight, battle, combat, action; a line of battle, troops drawn up for battle; a contest, dispute, quarrel proeliuma battle, combat, conflict; warriors taken collectively; a contest, strife aciēssharp edge or point; battle line; battle, engagement certāmenA contest, race, struggle, strife.; A battle, engagement, combat.; An object contended for, prize.concurrōto run with others, flock together; to meet, clash, dash together, strike one another; to take refuge congressusmeeting, assembly, conference; congress (all meanings); carnal union, copulation, sex dīmicātiōa fight, battle, combat, encounter; a contest, struggling, strife conveniōto convene, assemble, gather, meet or come together; to accost, to call on; to sue, to let be summoned to court cōnstituōto place, put, locate, lay; to set up, establish, constitute, found; to build, erect, construct spōnsiōsolemn promise, bet, or agreement

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

engagement

Combat, pugna: proelium: acies [SYN. in BATTLE]: certamen: proelii concursus; or concursus, congressus only; proelii dimicatio, or dimicatio only; also in plur., dimicationes, “engagements.”A naval engagement, proelium navale, pugna navalis; dimicatio navalis (Hirt., B. Alex., 25): a sharp engagement, proelium acre: to renew the engagement, in pugnam redire (to return to it); pugnam repetere (after an interruption); pugnam novam integrare: proelium redintegrare or renovare (to begin, as it were, again; nearly always of fresh troops); pugnam iterare (to fight a second battle; e.g., postero die, Liv.): to continue or carry on the engagement, pugnam excipere (of fresh troops, coming up to take the place of others who are wearied, Liv., 38, 22, in.): to be conquerors in an engagement, proelio or pugna superiores discedere; victores proelio excedere: to be defeated in an engagement, proelio or pugna inferiorem discedere; proelio vinci or superari: to give a signal for the engagement to begin, proelium committere (also of the soldiers or army beginning the engagement): a short engagement takes place, fit or agitur leve proelium: to be wearied by the length of the engagement, diuturnitate pugnae defessum esse.

Agreement, conventus: conventum: constitutum: sponsio: pactum, pactio [SYN. in AGREEMENT]; fides, qua me obstrinxi. To form an engagement with anybody, pacisci, depacisci cum aliquo; pactionem cum aliquo facere or conficere; about anything, de aliqua re pacisci: to keep an engagement, pactum praestare; in pacto permanere; pactis or conventis stare: according to the terms of our engagement, ex pacto, ex conventu (Auct. ad Herenn.), ex convento (Cic.). (The words are found in this connection and order.) ex pacto et convento: to volunteer an engagement to dine with anybody, condicere alicui ad cenam.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for engagement?: The usual Latin words for “engagement” are pugna, proelium, aciēs; also certāmen, concurrō, congressus. 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.