English → Latin
“ennui” in Latin
molestiatrouble, troublesomeness, irksomeness; uneasiness, annoyance; molestationquīwho, that, which, what
The English word ennui itself goes back to Latin odium, through inodiō.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
ennui
temporis molestia (general term, Ov., Met., 8, 652): otii molestia (from want of employment; after the same passage); also, molestia only, with genitive (e.g., molestia paucorum dierum). Also, taedium with genitive of what causes the ennui, or molestia, quam (or taedium, quod) aliquid mihi affert. To suffer ennui, *tempus tarde labens moleste ferre; otio languescere: to suffer ennui from anything, taedium cepi alicujus rei; aliquid taedium mihi affert: to complain of ennui, queror nihil me habere, quod agam: to be dying of ennui, otio tabescere: to banish ennui by anything, horas, or tempus, or tempora tarde labentia fallere aliqua re (e.g., sermonibus, narrando, ☞ Ov., Met., 8, 652; Trist., 3, 2, 12: ☞ otium fallere would be quite wrong, otium meaning only the being without employment): to cause ennui to anybody, molestiam alicui afferre or exhibere.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for ennui?
- The usual Latin words for “ennui” are molestia, quī. 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.