What is the Latin word for retreat?

The usual Latin words for “retreat” are abitus, discēdō, recipiō; also sōlitūdō, refugium, perfugium. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“retreat” in Latin

abitusa going away; departure; the place through which one leaves; place of egress, way out, exit; outlet, escape route discēdōto leave, depart, abandon, retire (with ablative); to not fulfill, fail to fulfill one's target; to deviate from a targe recipiōto take back, (i.e., regain possession of something); to recapture; to receive, accept, admit sōlitūdōAn instance of being alone; loneliness, solitariness, solitude, privacy; A lonely place; desert, wilderness; A state of refugiumrefuge perfugiumrefuge, shelter; asylum (political)respiciōto look behind, look back at or upon, look to, look around; to have a care for, regard, be mindful of, consider, respect sēcēdōto withdraw, to secede, to separate oneself, to shut oneself off, to seek distance; to retire; to dissent

The English word retreat itself goes back to Latin trahō, through retractus.

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

retreat s.

Act of retiring, abitus: discessus: receptus (of soldiers). To sound a retreat, receptui canere: to stipulate for a safe retreat, ut incolumibus abire liceat pacisci: the signal for retreat, receptui signum: revocatio a bello (Cic., Phil., 13, 7, 15): to provide the means of retreat, receptui sibi consulere (Caes., B. C. 3, 11): to lose the means of retreat, receptum amittere (Pomp. ap. Cic.): the retreat being difficult, haud facili inde receptu (Liv.): let us cut off all the means of retreat, that our only hope may be in victory, nos omnium rerum respectum praeterquam victoriae nobis abscindamus (Liv., 9, 23).

Place of retirement, solitudo: locus ab arbitris remotus: (as a refuge) refugium: perfugium: respectus (PROP., place to which one may look back, and fall back upon; place of refuge, Cic., Liv.): (for pleasure) secessus, -ūs.

retreat v.

(of troops) se recipere: se referre (not common): referre pedem (☞ but noi retrahere pedem, which is poetical): referre gradum (of retreating from actual engagement). To retreat in excellent order, quietissime se recipere (Caes.): to retreat to the camp, se recipere ad castra (Liv.), in castra (Caes.); se referre in castra (Nep.).

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for retreat?: The usual Latin words for “retreat” are abitus, discēdō, recipiō; also sōlitūdō, refugium, perfugium. 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.