English → Latin
“selfish” in Latin
impellōto push, drive or strike against something; assail; to drive or push forward, set in motion, urge on, impel; to impel, iprīvātusapart from the state; unofficial, private; peculiar, special, personal, individualdomesticusOf the house; domestic; familiar; native
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
selfish
suo commodo or privatae (domesticae) utilitati serviens: qui suis commodis metitur omnia: qui suis commodis inservit: qui sua cupiditate, non utilitate communi, impellitur (Cic., Off., 1, 19, 63). To be selfish, suo privato commodo or privatae (domesticae) utilitati servire; ad suum fructum or ad suam utilitatem referre omnia; id potius intueri, quod sibi, quam quod universis utile sit: to be completely selfish, nihil alterius causa facere, et metiri suis commodis omnia: without any selfish motive, suorum commodorum oblitus; nulla utilitate quaesita; innocenter; sine quaestu
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for selfish?
- The usual Latin words for “selfish” are impellō, prīvātus, domesticus. 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.