What is the Latin word for grind?

The usual Latin words for “grind” are molō, commolō, frangō; also exacuō, tornō, vitrum. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“grind” in Latin

molōto grind or mill commolōto pound or grind thoroughly frangōto break, shatter; to break, shatter (a promise, a treaty, someone's ideas (dreams, projects), someone's spirit); to bre exacuōto sharpen; to stimulate or aggravate tornōto turn; to round off, make round (by turning on a lathe)vitrumglass; dyer's woad, a plant used for dying blue (Isatis tinctoria); woad, a blue dye used by the Britons made from that

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

grind

In a mill, molere (e.g., hordeum in subtilem farinam): commolere: mola comminuere, frangere: mola terere (to reduce to small pieces, to crush in a mill). [Vid: also, To CRUSH.]

To sharpen, cote acuere or exacuere (with a whetstone): tornare (with lathe or grindstone; e.g., glass, vitrum).

To harass, Vid:

To grind the teeth, dentibus stridere (of a sick person, Cels.; dentibus frendere = to gnash the teeth).

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for grind?: The usual Latin words for “grind” are molō, commolō, frangō; also exacuō, tornō, vitrum. 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.