English → Latin
“paraphrase” in Latin
circuitiōrotation, revolution; orbit; circumferencecircumlocūtiōcircumlocution, periphrasispĕriphrăsisa circumlocutionexplicōto unfold, unfurl, uncoil, loosen, undo; to spread out, stretch out, extend, display, deploy; to disentangle, solve, set
The English word paraphrase itself goes back to Latin paraphrasis.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
paraphrase s.
circuitio; circuitus eloquendi; circuitus plurium verborum; circumlocutio; ☞ not circumscriptio, or amfractus verborum; periphrasis is a Grecism: si non reperitur vox nostras, vel pluribus et per ambitum verborum res enuncianda est (Vid: Suet., Tib., 71; we must give a paraphrase).
paraphrase v.
pluribus verbis aliquid exponere, or explicare (Cic., Fin., 3, 4, 15; Quint., 8, 6, 61); pluribus vocibus et per ambitum verborum aliquid enunciare (Suet., Tiberius, 71); circuitu plurium verborum ostendere aliquid (Quint., 10, 1, 12); circumire aliquid (Vid: Quint., 8, 2, 17; 12, 10, 34); ☞ circumscribere, with or without verbis, means “to explain, define.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for paraphrase?
- The usual Latin words for “paraphrase” are circuitiō, circumlocūtiō, pĕriphrăsis; also explicō. 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.