English → Latin
“sooner” in Latin
potiusrather, preferably; rather than; insteadcitusswift, quick, rapid; earlypriuspreviously; beforequīwho, that, which, what
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
sooner
Rather, potius: citius: prius. Sooner than, potius quam; citius quam; prius quam; also, non tam cito... quam (putting, of course, the epithet that is preferred after the quam; e.g., quem tu non tam cito rhetorem dixisses, quam...: πολιτικόν, i. e., would sooner call a πολιτικός than a rhetorician): I would sooner die than, etc., mori malo, quam, etc.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for sooner?
- The usual Latin words for “sooner” are potius, citus, prius; also quī. 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.