What is the Latin word for smooth?

The usual Latin words for “smooth” are levis, levigō, poliō; also lūbricus, pila, dēpilō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“smooth” in Latin

levislight, not heavy; easy to digest; quick, swift, fleet, nimble, rapid levigōto make light, lighten poliōto polish, to smooth lūbricusslippery, slimy; fleeting; inconstant pilaball; a game of ball; globe, sphere dēpilōto pull out the hair; to depilate; to pluck feathers; to peel the skin rādōto scrape, shave, scratch; to rub, smooth; to touch (upon), brush along, graze tondeōto shave, shear, clip; to crop, prune, trim; to mow, reap glabersmooth; hairless blanduspleasant, agreeable; enticing, seductive, alluring; persuasive

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

smooth adj.

PROP.,

Not rough, levis (general term, opposed to asper; ☞ but in the sense of “without hair,” it is only poetical): levigatus: politus (rendered smooth, polished). To make smooth, levigare: polire.

Slippery, lubricus.

Without hair, bald (by nature), sine pilo or pilis: pilo carens: (by artificial means), depilatus (general term, deprived of hair): rasus: tonsus (shaven, shorn; opposed to intonsus): glaber (PROP. naturally smooth, without hair; opposed to pilosus; then, also, rendered smooth by shaving or plucking off the hair). Figuratively.

Bland, mild, blandus (e.g., words, a tongue): mendax (lying).

Flowing, soft (of style), fluens.

Easy, Vid.

smooth v.

PROP.,

To free from roughness, levigare, more rarely levare (general term): polire (so that the thing smoothed receives a polish; also of the smoothness of style, etc. ☞ Both levigare and polire are used of making smooth with a knife, a file, pumice-stone, or in any other manner): limare (to file): runcinare (to plane): fricare (to smooth by rubbing; e.g., pavimentum): radere (to scrape, rub with pumice stone; Vid: Mart., 1, 118):

To level, Vid:

To facilitate, Vid: SMOOTHLY.

Not roughly, by circumlocution with the adjective (☞ leviter does not occur).

With soft language, leniter: blande: comiter: benigne. Vid: GENTLY.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for smooth?: The usual Latin words for “smooth” are levis, levigō, poliō; also lūbricus, pila, dēpilō. 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.