What is the Latin word for make?

The usual Latin words for “make” are cōnficiō, efficiō, creō; also faciō, īnstituō, cōnstituō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“make” in Latin

cōnficiōto prepare, accomplish, complete, execute; settle, close a bargain; traverse; to produce, cause, bring about, effect, se efficiōto make out or work out; effect, execute, complete, accomplish, make, form, compose; to cause to occur, to bring about, creōto create, to give existence to, to form, to make, to produce, to originate out of other materials or (post-Classical) o faciōto do (particularly as a specific instance or occasion of doing); to make, construct, fashion, frame, build, erect; to m īnstituōto set up, establish, found, institute or arrange; to train, teach, instruct, educate (usually by a course of training);cōnstituōto place, put, locate, lay; to set up, establish, constitute, found; to build, erect, construct fingōto shape, fashion, form, knead (dough); to touch, touch gently, stroke, stroke gently, handle; to adorn, dress, arrange trānsferōto bear, carry or bring across or over; transport, transfer, convey over; to copy, transcribe, transfer; to carry along expleōto fill up, occupy completely; to appease, satisfy, placate the thirst, satiate the hunger; to supply, repair, compensat impleōto fill up or with, fill fully; cover, fulfill. (+ genitive, ablative, or accusative case); to satisfy, satiate; to make

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

make v.

To produce, facere: conficere: efficere (to accomplish, effect): creare (to create): to make money by, pecuniam conficere de re: to make great profits by anything, rem habere quaestuosissimam (Cic.): to make a fortune, in multas opes crescere (Plin.): collocupletare se (Terentianus): made for anything (i. e., constituted, adapted by nature), ad aliquid factus; alicui rei or ad aliquid natus factusque (opposed to ad aliquid doctus or institutus).

In arithmetic, efficere (to make up): esse, fieri (to amount; Vid: Col., 5, 2, 6, has duas summas in se multiplicato, quinquagies centeni fiunt quinque millia. Horum pars dimidia duo millia quingeni, quae pars jugeri unciam et scripulum efficit: Cic., Verr., 3, 49, 116, Professio est agri Leontini ad jugerum XXX. millia. Haec sunt ad tritici medimnūm XC., id est tritici modium DXL. millia) (Cic., Verr., 3, 49, 116, Professio est agri Leontini ad jugerum XXX. Haec sunt ad tritici medimnūm XC., id est tritici modium DXL.):

To cause a person or thing to become anything. (a) To nominate, facere, instituere (to institute): constituere (to fix, appoint): creare (to choose, elect; aliquem, followed by an accusative of that which anyone is made, etc.); e.g., make a person one’s heir, heredem aliquem facere, instituere. (b) To put anyone in a certain state (with adjectives expressing the nature of the state), facere, efficere, reddere aliquem, followed by an accusative of the predicate (☞ with this difference, that facere and efficere are, to produce a certain state or condition; reddere is, to place in a certain state or condition); e.g., to make one unserviceable, aliquem inutilem facere (as, by a wound): to make a person better, aliquem meliorem reddere: to make tame or gentle, homines ex feris mites reddere or homines feros mites reddere (☞ Herzog, Sall., Cat., 14, 3): to make anything of a person, aliquem pulchre erudire (to instruct well): aliquem producere ad dignitatem (to promote): to make much of anyone, aliquem magni facere (to value highly): multum alicui tribuere (to assign much to anyone): aliquem colere (to respect, reverence): to make little or nothing of one, aliquem parvi facere (to value little): aliquem contemnere (to despise): to make much of anything, aliquid magni facere, existimare (to value highly): aliquid in honore habere (to hold in honor): not make much account of anything, aliquid haud in magno pretio ponere.

To cause, efficere; facere: I did not make him do it, non facit impulsu meo (Terentianus).

To represent, by description or otherwise facere (by art, or by words): fingere (by art, of statuaries, etc.: both take the accompanying verb, if active, in the participle present; if passive, in the infinitive present; e.g.), Xenophon makes Socrates say, Xenophon facit Socratem disputantem: he makes the world to be constructed by the Deity, a Deo construi atque aedificari mundum facit.

MAKE AWAY [Vid: DESTROY].

MAKE HASTE [Vid: HASTEN].

MAKE AN OFFER [Vid: OFFER].

MAKE OVER, transferre; transmitter.

MAKE READY [Vid: PREPARE].

MAKE UP = To constitute, efficere, also, esse (in contents, value; to consist of): explere, implere (to amount to; the former also = efficere): how much does it make up? quae summa est? quantum est? to make up four thousand men, quatuor milia militum explere: to make up a great sum, longam summam efficere: the gold which made up an Attic talent, quod summam Attici talenti explebat: to make up a whole (of quarters), multitudinem integri assequi et exaequare (Vid: Auct, ad Her., 4, 20, 22). To compose, reconcile [Vid. COMPOSE, RECONCILE].

MAKE USE, uti aliqua re (mostly with the idea of need and enjoyment, χρῆσθαι): usurpare aliquid (to use a thing as opportunity occurs, of momentary use): adhibere aliquid alicui rei (to apply a thing in a single case to a definite object, with the notion of purpose and intention): to make use of anyone, uti alicujus opera (his assistance) or consilio (his advice), to make use of a saying of Solon’s, ut Sulonis dictum usurpem.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for make?: The usual Latin words for “make” are cōnficiō, efficiō, creō; also faciō, īnstituō, cōnstituō. 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.