English → Latin
“fan” in Latin
flābellumA small (hand-held) fan, especially for keeping off flies.; flabellum.vannusa winnowing basketventilābrumwinnowing fork or shovelventilōto toss, swing, brandish in the air; to expose to a draught; to winnow, fancōnflōto kindle (a fire); to forge, fuse or melt (metal); to refine or purifyaccendōto kindle or light (a fire); to inflame or arouse
The English word fan itself goes back to Latin vannus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
fan s.
flabellum (for cooling; also IMPROP. = “a fan to inflame” anything [Hooker], quasi flabellum seditionis, qua aliquid est ventilatum, Cic.).
Winnowing-fan, vannus: ventilabrum.
fan v.
PROPR., (aestuanti) alicui lene frigus ventilare (Martisalis): flabello ventulum alicui facere (comedy): ventilare (e.g., aliquo ventilante cubabat, Suet.).
IMPROPR., Kindle (sedition, etc.), quasi flabello ventilare aliquid (after Cic., Flacc., 23, 54): conflare: accendere (to kindle wrath, a war, quarrel, etc.).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for fan?
- The usual Latin words for “fan” are flābellum, vannus, ventilābrum; also ventilō, cōnflō, accendō. 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.