English → Latin
“religion” in Latin
religiōscrupulousness, conscientious exactness; piety, religious scruple, religious awe, superstition, strict religious observacaerimōniareligious ceremony, ritual; sacredness, sanctity; reverence, veneration, awesacersacred, holy, dedicated (to a divinity), consecrated, hallowed (translating Greek ἱερός); devoted (to a divinity for saclēxthe legal machinery of a state, the law; a law, statute, bill; the laws regarded as a body, the constitution
The English word religion itself goes back to Latin ligō, through religiō.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
religion
religio (in its widest sense; reverence for everything sacred, and any manifestation of this feeling): pietas erga Deum (the fear of God): res divinae (things divine or sacred, general term): religiones (the course of religious observances): caerimonia, caerimoniae (sacred rites): sacra, plur., (religious worship): lex (the law or doctrine of a religion; as lex Christiana, the Christian religion). A man of no religion, homo impius erga Deum; religionis contemtor; religionum omnium contemtor; religionum negligens: not to be without a sense of religion, haud intacti religione animi esse: the religion of a country, cultus deorum ab omnibus fere civibus susceptus (after Cic., De Legg., 1, 23, 60): sacra publica, -orum, neuter (general term, the public service of God; opposed to sacra privata): formula, doctrina, ratio rerum divinarum or sacrorum (a system of religion or religious doctrine; e.g., the Romish religion, sacra Pontiricia, plur.): to adopt a religion, sacra (e.g., Romana) suscipere: to embrace the Christian religion, *sacra Christianorum suscipere: to renounce one’s religion, *patria sacra deserere: a change of religion, *sacra commutata; *sacrorum professio mutata.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for religion?
- The usual Latin words for “religion” are religiō, caerimōnia, sacer; also lēx. 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.