English → Latin
“sow” in Latin
porcasow (female pig)sūspig, swine, hog, boar, or sowscrōfasow (female pig, especially one used for breeding)catusclever, intelligent, sagacious, clear-thinking; cunning, crafty, sly; shrill, sharp, clear-soundingsēminōto plant, sowserōto sow, plant; to beget, bring forth, produce; to found, establish; scatter, spread, disseminate; propagate; excite; cauiaceōto lie prostrate, lie down; recline; to be sick, lie ill; to linger, stop, tarry, remainspargōto scatter, strew, sprinkle, sparkle; to throw here and there, cast, hurl, throw about
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
sow s.
porca (Cato), sus (Varr.): femina sus: scrofa (for breeding; Varr.): or, by circumlocution, sus ad partus edendos idonea (Col.).
sow v.
Transitively, seminare (PROP.): serere (PROP. and figuratively). To sow land, agrum seminare: to sow (seed), (semen) spargere (Cic.), jacere, serere (Plin.). To sow barley, wheat, seminare hordeum (Col.), serere triticum (Cic.). To sow with anything, serere, conserere aliqua re (PROP.); obserere aliqua re (PROP. and figuratively). To sow discord, civiles discordias serere. The sky sown with stars, totum caelum astris distinctum et ornatum.
Intransitively, sementem facere; semen spargere (Cic.), jacere, serere (Plin.); semen terrae mandare; sulco deponere semina; semen ingerere solo (Col.); semen jactare, demittere in terram (Varr.). Proverbially. As a man sows, so shall he reap, ut sementem feceris, ita metes (Cic., De Or., 2, 65, 261). To reap where one has not sown, ex aliorum laboribus laudem libare (Auctorad Her., 4, 3, 5). To sow to the flesh, pravas sequi cupiditates (opposed to virtuti, sanctitati studere, Bau.).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for sow?
- The usual Latin words for “sow” are porca, sūs, scrōfa; also catus, sēminō, serō. 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.