English → Latin
“rock” in Latin
saxumstone, rock (a large, rough fragment of rock); wall of stonerūpēscliff, rockscopuluscrag, cliff (projecting rock); rock (in/under the sea)cautēsa rough, craggy or pointed rock, or cliff; rock, craglīveōto be of a bluish color; to be livid; to be envious, envysaxātilisthat lives amongst rockspiscātusa fishing, the catching of a fish; fish, the catch of the day; (of a mistress) a catch, findadamantinusadamantine (all senses); incorruptible, impregnable; inflexiblesaxeusrocky, stonymoveōto move, stir, set in motion; to disturb, shake, remove; to arouse, excite, promote, produce
The English word rock itself goes back to Latin rocca.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
rock s.
saxum (general term, any large mass of stone): rupes (a steep, rugged rock): scopulus (in prose, a sharp, dangerous rock in the water, a cliff): cautes (a long, narrow bank of sand or rocks in the sea; a reef, ridge; saxa et cautes = rocks and reefs; Caes., B.G., 3, 13: ☞ petra is a Greek word, and not used by Latin writers in the best age). That is or lives among rocks, saxatilis (e.g., piscis, piscatus): as firm as a rock, adamantinus: as hard as a rock, saxeus (PROP. and figuratively): to strike against a rock, scopulum offendere (PROP. and figuratively): to strike or founder on a rock, ad scopulum appellere (navem); ad scopulum appelli (the former of persons, the latter of ships; both also figuratively; after Cic., Rab., Perd., 9, 25, nec tuas umquam rationes ad eos scopulos appulisses, ad quos Sex. Titii afflictam navem): ad scopulum allidi (PROP., of ships): to escape the rocks, scopulos praetervehi (PROP. and figuratively).
rock v.
Transitively, movere. To rock a cradle, cunas infantis movere (Mart.): to rock a child to sleep, perhaps *infantem cunis motis sopire, or *cunarum agitatione sopire (PROP.); sopire, securum reddere (figuratively, to render secure and careless): one that rocks cradles, cunarum motor (Mart., 11, 39, in.: feminine, cunaria, Inscript.). Intransitively, moveri: agitari: jactari.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for rock?
- The usual Latin words for “rock” are saxum, rūpēs, scopulus; also cautēs, līveō, saxātilis. 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.