English → Latin
“figurative” in Latin
figūrōto form, fashion, shapeōrātiōspeech, discourse, language; the power of speech; manner or style of speakingverbumword; proverb, saying; verbtrānsferōto bear, carry or bring across or over; transport, transfer, convey over; to copy, transcribe, transfer; to carry along mūtōto move, remove; to alter, change, modify, transform; to vary, diversify
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
figurative
*imagine expressus: figuratus (e.g., oratio, verbum, (Quint.): translatus (metaphorical; e.g., verbum, opposed to verbum proprium): mutatus (Cic., Or., 27, “a translatis distinguit mutata, ita ut illa ad metaphoram... haec ad tropos pertineant.” Ern., Lex. Rhet., p. 405): a figurative expression, verborum immutatio (Cic., Brut., 17, 69): to use a word in a figurative sense, verbum assumere (Quint., 1, 121).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for figurative?
- The usual Latin words for “figurative” are figūrō, ōrātiō, verbum; also trānsferō, mūtō. 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.