English → Latin
“savage” in Latin
feruswild, savage, fierce, cruel; uncivilized, uncultivated; untamed, roughagrestisrural; rustic; wild (of or pertaining to land, fields or the countryside); clownish; rude; uncultivated; coarse; savage;barbarusforeign, strange; savage, hostile; barbaric, barbarous, uncivilizedferōxwild, bold, fierce; defiant, arrogantsaevusfurious, ferocious, fierce, violent, barbarous, cruel, savageatrōxfierce, savage, bloody; heinous, cruel, severe; terrible, frightening, dreadful
The English word savage itself goes back to Latin silva, through salvāticus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
savage adj.
Wild, ferus: ferus incultusque: agrestis. Savage nations, ferae incultaeque gentes [Vid: WILD].
Ferocious, barbarus: ferox: ferus: saevus: natura asper: atrox. (The words are found in this connection and order.) saevus et atrox. A savage disposition, feri mores (plur., Cic.); immansuetum ingenium (Ov.): he is so savage that, asperitate ea est et immanitate naturae, ut (Cic.). SYN. in CRUEL.
savage s.
homo ferus incultusque. Savages, ferae incultaeque gentes.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for savage?
- The usual Latin words for “savage” are ferus, agrestis, barbarus; also ferōx, saevus, atrōx. 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.