English → Latin
“expensive” in Latin
pretiōsusvaluable, precious; expensive, costlylavōto wash, bathe; to wet, moistencārusdear, beloved; costly, expensive, valuedprōdiguswasteful, lavish, prodigalprofundōto pour forth, to lavish; to prostrate; to squanderpartiōto share, part, apportion; divide, distributemagnificusgreat, noble, distinguished, eminent, august; splendid, rich, fine, costly, sumptuous, magnificentsplendidussplendid, bright, glittering; distinguished, noble, illustrious
The English word expensive itself goes back to Latin pendō, through *expēnsīvus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
expensive
sumtuosus (causing great outlay; a wife, games, parties): pretiosus: magni pretii: multorum nummorum (that has cost much; furniture, estates, a library, wares, etc.): lautus (recherche, of furniture, parties, etc.): carus (dear). Sometimes magnificus: splendidus. My establishment is a very expensive one, magni mihi sumtus domi quotidiani fiunt (Ter., Heaut., 4, 5, 6).
Given to lavish expenditure, prodigus: profusus; in anything, prodigus or effusus in aliqua re.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for expensive?
- The usual Latin words for “expensive” are pretiōsus, lavō, cārus; also prōdigus, profundō, partiō. 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.