English → Latin
“obstacle” in Latin
impedīmentumimpediment, hindrance; luggage, equipagemoraa duration of time before an event takes place, delay; a delay in the performance of an action, putting off; hindrancedifficultāsdifficulty, distress, trouble, hardshipobstōto stand before, stand in the way of, obstruct, block, oppose; to thwart, hinderofferōto bring before or bring to, present, offer, bestow, show, place before, exhibit, expose; to cause, occasion, inflict; tofficiōto obstruct, hinder, block; to stand in the way of, oppose; to be detrimental or hurtful to
The English word obstacle itself goes back to Latin obstō, through obstāculum.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
obstacle
impedimentum (a hindrance): mora (a cause of delay): difficultas (difficulty; ☞ avoid the unclassical obstaculum and obstantia, although the latter occurs in Vitr.): to put an obstacle in the way, to be an obstacle, impedimento esse alicui rei; impedimentum inferre (Cic.); impedimentum afferre (Tac.); moram afferre, offerre (Cic.); in mora esse (Terentianus); obstare, officere, obesse alicui (Cic.): to remove obstacles, amoliri (of obstacles; also with addition of e medio, with labor and difficulty): to conquer obstacles, impedimenta superare; ea, quae obstant, transcendere (to overcome them): amoliri, quae impedimento sunt (remove them by great exertions; after Ter., And., 4, 2, 24).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for obstacle?
- The usual Latin words for “obstacle” are impedīmentum, mora, difficultās; also obstō, offerō, officiō. 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.