English → Latin
“race” in Latin
genusbirth, origin, lineage, descent; kind, type, class; species (general classification, as of living things), taxon (of anigēnsRoman clan (related by birth or marriage and sharing a common name and often united by certain religious rites); stock, curriculuma race; a racecourse; a racing chariotcursusthe act of running; race; Course, way, passage, journey, voyage, march; Course, progress, direction, development, successtirpsrootstock; the lowest part of the trunk of a plant, including the roots.; a plant, shrub, shoot, sprout; lineage, race,
The English word race itself goes back to Latin rādō, through *raso.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
race s.
Family, stock, etc., genus (general term): gens (all who belong to one stock; then, all who bear the same family names (nomina); opposed to familia, which denotes the subdivisions of a gens, distinguished by cognomina (family names): stirps (the stock of a family as sprung from a gens): homines qui aetate aliqua vivunt (men living at one time, contemporaries; e.g., hujus aetatis homines; qui nunc vivunt homines): an ancient race, genus antiquum; gens antiqua: to be of an ancient race, generis antiquitate florere: one of a very ancient race, homo veteris prosapiae et multarum imaginum; ex familia vetere natus. Stirps, genus, and gens, denote the race usually in an ascending line, as abstract and collective terms for majores; whereas prosapia, progenies, propago; proles, suboles, in a descending line, as abstract and collective terms for posteri (Döderlein).
Course, cursus, -ūs; curriculum; cursus certamen (foot-race): cursus or curriculum equorum; cursus equester (a horse-race).
race v.
cursu certare: certire pedibus: pedibus contendere (on foot): cursu equestri certare (with homes).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for race?
- The usual Latin words for “race” are genus, gēns, curriculum; also cursus, stirps. 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.