English → Latin
“inscription” in Latin
īnscrīptiōinscription, titleindexA pointer, indicator.; The index finger, forefinger.; An index, list, catalogue, table, summary, digest.titulustitle of a book; heading of a section; placard, tabletepigrammainscription; epigramēlogiumshort maxim; inscription on a tombstone, epitaph; clause in a willcarmensong, tune; a composition in verse, a poem; poetry, verse, song; poem, poetry (strictly any poem or poetry that can be spraescrīptiōpreface, introduction, commencement; pretext, excuse, pretence; precept, order, rule, law
The English word inscription itself goes back to Latin īnscrīptiō.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
inscription
inscriptio: index (both general terms; e.g., of a book, picture, statue): titulus (= the former; then, especially an inscription on a tomb-stone, with and without sepulcri: lastly, as a notice on a board suspended to anything that is to be let or sold; as, on a slave, a house; Vid: Gierig, Plin., Ep., 7, 27, 7): epigramma, -atis, neuter (ἐπίγραμμα, for the pure Latin inscriptio, an inscription on the basis of a statue, on an offering, on a grave-stone, etc.): elogium (any small inscription, whether bestowing praise or blame, or indifferent): carmen (an inscription in verse, as, at the entrance of a temple): praescriptio (the address or superscription of a letter): monumentum litterarum (as preserving the recollcetion of anything). To put an inscription on anything, titulum inscribere alicui rei; inscribere aliquid: a doubtful inscription, titulus obscurus et ambiguus: he had this inscription carved on the statue, in statua (so in sepulcro, etc.) inscripsit: to have an inscription cut on stone, epigramma or carmen in lapide insculpere: an inscription carved in stone, epigramma (carmen, or monumentum litterarum) in lapide insculptum.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for inscription?
- The usual Latin words for “inscription” are īnscrīptiō, index, titulus; also epigramma, ēlogium, carmen. 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.