English → Latin
“scorpion” in Latin
scorpiōa scorpion; a kind of prickly sea fish, possibly the scorpionfish or sculpin; a kind of prickly plantnepaA scorpion; A crabĪsidōrusa male given name, equivalent to English Isidore or Isadore
The English word scorpion itself goes back to Latin scorpiō.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
scorpion
A venomous arachnid, scorpio: nepa (also as sign of the zodiac: ☞ scorpio likewise for a machine used in war): The sting of a scorpion, ictus scorpionis (the sting as inflicted): plaga scorpionis (wound made by the sting).
A kind of fish, *cottus scorpio (Linn.).
By metonymy, A scourge, scorpio (inasmuch as it had iron stings to it; Vid: Isidorus, Orig., 5, 27, no. 18).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for scorpion?
- The usual Latin words for “scorpion” are scorpiō, nepa, Īsidōrus. 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.