What is the Latin word for object?

The usual Latin words for “object” are obiciō, fīnis, prōpōnō; also mōnstrum, odium, contemptus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“object” in Latin

obiciōto throw or put to, towards, in front of or before; to present, expose, hold out, offer; to turn over, give over fīnisend; limit, border, bound boundary, frontier; boundaries, bounds, frontiers; by extension, territory, region, lands prōpōnōto set forth, to put forth, to lay out; to expose to view, display; to make known mōnstruma divine omen indicating misfortune, an evil omen, portent; a monster, monstrosity, whether in size or character; a thin odiumhatred, ill-will, aversion, dislike, disgust, detestation, odium, loathing, enmity or their manifestation; the condition contemptusa despising, contempting; contempt, scorn; a being despised, contempted; ignominy oppōnōto set against; to oppose, object occurrōto run into; to go to meet; to charge, rush to attack; to meet, go to, come to

The English word object itself goes back to Latin obiciō, through obiectum.

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

object

That which lies before one, res (general term): res objecta sensibus, or quod sensibus percipitur (in philosophical sense): quod sub sensum cadit: objectus, -ūs (Nep.): also, by various turns, (1) by the verb esse; (a) with a genitive (like εἶναι) to be reckoned or included under; e.g., deorum tutelae ea loca sunt; legati petierunt a Romanis, ut filium regis publicae curae ac velut tutelae vellent esse (☞ Augustin, Grotef., § 418; Ramsh., § 102, 2, b): esse with a dative, when it signifies to serve for anything, etc.; e.g., to be an object of care, hatred, contempt; alicui esse curae, odio, contemptui (☞ Grotef., § 121, 1; Augustin, Grotef., § 38; Zumpt, § 422): to be an object of hatred to anybody, in odio esse apud aliquem: to become an object of hatred, in odium venire, pervenire: (2) by a demonstrative pronoun, which, when a relative follows, is often omitted; e.g., the objects of politics, (ea) quae in republica versantur: the objects which relate to our happiness, (ea), quae ad felicitatem nostram pertinent: (3) by substantives in which the idea is already included; e.g., an object of love, amor; deliciae: an object of desire, desiderium: an object of jest, ludibrium: (4) by some other by circumlocution, with verbs from the context; e.g., to be an object of love to anybody, ab aliquo amari, diligi: all these sciences have for their object the investigation of truth, quae omnes artes in veri investigatione versantur.

An end, aim, finis; propositum: without having attained their object, re infecta; infectis iis, quae agere destinaverant: to make it one’s first object, id unum agere (ut): to make pleasure one’s first object, ad voluptatem omnia referre or revocare; voluptate omnia metiri.

(In grammar)(In grammar), res; res objecta.

Any thing deformed or hideous, monstrum.

object v.

contra dicere, in contrariam partem afferre (to say, bring forward on the other side): opponere (to set against): occurrere, to anything, alicui rei (to meet, by objecting): it is objected to us, nobis occurritur (Vid: Cic., Off., 2, 2, 7): to this you are accustomed to object thus, huic loco sic occurrere soletis: to have anything to object to a thing (i. e., not to approve of it), rem improbare: I have nothing to object to it, nihil impedio, non repugnabo (Vid: Zumpt, § 543): some one, however, may object, sed fortasse quispiam dixerit; dicat aliquis forte: nobody can now object, non jam potest dici.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for object?: The usual Latin words for “object” are obiciō, fīnis, prōpōnō; also mōnstrum, odium, contemptus. 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.