What is the Latin word for gay?

The usual Latin words for “gay” are clārus, lūcidus, splendidus; also nitidus, laetus, varius. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“gay” in Latin

clārusclear, bright; renowned, famous, famed, distinguished, illustrious, celebrated, glorious; upstanding, respected lūcidusclear, bright, shining, full of light; clear, perspicuous, lucid splendidussplendid, bright, glittering; distinguished, noble, illustrious nitidusshining, polished, glittering; handsome, beautiful, good-looking; healthy-looking, well conditioned laetushappy, cheerful, glad; fertile, luxuriant, lush, rich variusdiverse, different, various, varied; manifold, changing, variable, complex; versatile Petrōniusof or pertaining to the gens Petronia incultusuntilled, uncultivated; neglected; unadorned, unpolished

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

gay

Cheerful, Vid:

Bright, etc. (of colors, dress, etc.), clarus (bright; e.g., color): lucidus: splendidus (e.g., lucida vestis, Plin.; splendida vestis, Petronius): nitidus (bright): laetus (cheerful; nitida, laeta, opposed to horrida, inculta; Cic., Or., 11): varius (having several colors; hence, by inference,” gay;” of dress, etc.).

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for gay?: The usual Latin words for “gay” are clārus, lūcidus, splendidus; also nitidus, laetus, varius. 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.