English → Latin
“fount, fountain” in Latin
fōnswater issuing from the ground, a spring; the water or waters of a river, sea etc.; a well, fountain or font (a large concaputthe head (of humans and animals); head; top; summit; point; end; extremity (beginning or end); origin; source; spring; hprī̆ncepsfirst, foremost; chief, distinguishedorīgōact, event or process of coming into existence: beginning, origination; event or process of being born, birth; origin, scausacause, reason; case, claim, contention; cause, judicial process, lawsuit
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
fount, fountain
fons (both the water that issues forth, and the place where it issues): scaturigo (the water, as gushing violently forth): caput (the head of the spring): aqua saliens: aquae salientes (whence the water shoots forth; e.g., an artificial fountain). Opposite there is an (artificial) fountain, contra fons egerit aquam et recipit; nam expulsa in altum in se cadit, junctisque hiatibus et absorbetur et tollitur (Plin., Ep., 5, 6, 37): to take from the fountain, e fonte haurire aliquid. The fountains of the great deep were broken up, flumina tellus largius fundit, aperitque fontes novos (Sen., N.Q., 27; of the flood).
figuratively, = Original source, fons (general term): caput: principium (the first beginning). (The words are found in this connection and order.) principium et fons: origo (origin): causa (cause): unde fit aliquid (whence anything exists or takes its source). The fountain of all things, a quo omnium rerum principia ducuntur: the fountain of life, vitae fons (poetic only).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for fount, fountain?
- The usual Latin words for “fount, fountain” are fōns, caput, prī̆nceps; also orīgō, causa. 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.