English → Latin
“expedient” in Latin
ūtilisuseful, serviceable, beneficial, profitable, advantageous; helpful; fit, suitable, adapted, propersalūtōto preserve, keep safe; to greet, salute; to pay respectspestiferpestilential; destructive, fatal; baleful, noxious, pernicious, pestiferousūsususe, employment, exercise, advantage; practice; experience, discipline, skillūtilitāsusefulness, utility; expediency; advantagepraebeōto proffer, offer; to provide, grant, furnish, supply, service; to show, display
The English word expedient itself goes back to Latin pēs, through expediens.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
expedient
utilis (opposed to honestus): salutaris (opposed to perniciosus, pestifer). (The words are found in this connection and order.) utilis et salutaris. To be expedient, expedire alicui; or usui, or utilitati, or utile esse; utilitatem or usum afferre, habere, praebere: prodesse: conducere (to be advantageous); also, ex re or in rem esse alicujus: it is expedient for all good men, that the, etc., omnibus bonis expedit, with accusative and infinitive (e.g., rempublicam esse salvam).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for expedient?
- The usual Latin words for “expedient” are ūtilis, salūtō, pestifer; also ūsus, ūtilitās, praebeō. 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.