English → Latin
“instead of” in Latin
locusplace (referring to a specific location); a passage of literature; opportunity; cause; occasion; groundsvicischange; alternation; interchange; time; instance; seasonpossumbe able to, can, may; in the 3rd person singular (pote est): it may be, it is possible; to have influence or efficacy, t
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
instead of
(1) (1) Followed by a substantive; loco or in locum, with genitive (in the place of anybody or anything, the one being substituted for the other): vice or in vicem, with genitive (one being changed for the other): pro, with ablative (“for,” implying a relation or proportion between the two things). To use saltpetre instead of salt, salis vice nitro uti: to send some cavalry instead of the legions, in vicem legionum equites mittere: I have been invited instead of him, in locum ejus invitatus sum: he had called them Quirites instead of soldiers, Quirites eos pro militibus appellaverat: to pay bad money instead of good, nummos adulterinos pro bonis solvere. (2) Before the participial substantive; (a) cum possit or posset with infinitive (when the thing not done is merely one that might be done or have been done; e.g., instead of being led to execution, he was loaded with praise, cum posset ad mortem duci, omni laude cumulatus est): (b) cum debeat or deberet (when the thing not done is what ought to be done, or to have been done; cum deberet ad mortem duci, omni laude cumulatus est): (c) By ac non (e.g., as if they were deserted, instead of [as was really the case] having deserted them [the Palaepolitnni], velut destituti, ac non qui ipsi destituisseot): (d) tantum abest, ut... ut [contra] (when the thing not done or notion rejected is wholly improbable, compared with the other fact or statement; often when the notions are opposed; e.g., instead of feeling any dislike to have a work published on the opposite side of the question, I really am most anxious to see such a one, tantum abest ut scribi contra nos nolimus, ut id etiam maxinie optemus: the fear of a foreign enemy, instead of putting an end to those civil broils, actually rendered the tribunes more violent, tantum abfuit, ut civilia certamina terror externus cohiberet, ut contra eo violentior potestas tribunicia esset, Liv., 6, 31). (e) Nearly so, non modo non... sed etiam (not only not... but even); non... sed (not... but); adeo non (or nihil)... ut (e.g., instead of restraining his anger, he openly asserted, etc. adeo non tenuit iram, ut... palam diceret, Liv., 8, 5): magis quam (rather than; e.g., instead of terrifying, it had enraged him, accenderat eum magis quam terruerat): (f) with ablative absolute, (e.g., instead of flying, omissa fuga).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for instead of?
- The usual Latin words for “instead of” are locus, vicis, possum. 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.