English → Latin
“fork” in Latin
furcaA two-pronged fork, pitchfork.; A fork-shaped prop, pole or stake.; An instrument of punishment, a frame in the form of MergaThe star 38 Boötis in the constellation Boötes.ancōnThe elbow; The arm of a workman's square; A console that appears to support a corniceamōto love; to be fond of, like, admire; to be pleased by or with (someone or something) for (a particular reason); to deribifurcustwo-pronged, bifurcatecapreolusa roe deer, roebuckclāviculadiminutive of clāvis (“key”); the tendril of a vine; a bar or bolt of a doorfurcillōto supportfaveōto be favorable, to be well disposed or inclined towards, to favor, promote, befriend, countenance, protect; to favor; tdōto give; to impart, offer, render, present with; to afford, grant
The English word fork itself goes back to Latin furca.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
fork
s, furca: furcilla (as well for a pitch-fork as for a support, but never for our “table-fork;” since the ancients, as is well known, conveyed their food to their mouth with their fingers): merga (fork for raking corn into a heap, the shape of it is unknown; Vid: Schneider Varr., R.R., 1, 50, 2, p. 360, sq.): ancon (ἀγκών), or, pure Latin, ames (an instrument, in the shape of a fork, for spreading fishing-nets; Grat., Cyneg., 87; Hor., Epod., 2, 33, Boettiger): bifurcum (neuter adjective; the forked end of anything; e.g., cum insertum est bifurco pastini, Col., 3, 18): capreolus (a support; also, = clavicula): clavicula (the fork-shaped twig of a vine). In the shape of a fork, furcillatus: a stable-fork, pitch-fork, from the context, furca only.
fork v.
To fork up corn, etc., spicas mergis legere (Col.); mergis elevare manipulos (Fasti, p. 124, ed. Müll). To be forked (= divided forkwise), findere se in ambas (Verg.) or duas (Ov.) partes (†): findi: bifariam procedere (Cic., Tim., 9).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for fork?
- The usual Latin words for “fork” are furca, Merga, ancōn; also amō, bifurcus, capreolus. 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.