English → Latin
“span” in Latin
palmuspalm; palm, (especially) the Roman palm of about 7.4 cm.spithamaspandōdrānsthree-quarters (nine-twelfths) (especially of a foot, or of an hour); A book of debts introduced by the lex Valeria fenepalmārisMeasuring the length, width or breadth of a hand or palm.; Full of palms.; That deserves the palmary or prize, superior,dōdrantālisof nine
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
span s.
palmus (Varr.); spithama (Plin.); dodrans (id., three fourths of a foot). A span wide, palmaris (Varr.); dodrantalis (Plin.): figuratively, life a span long, exigua vitae brevitas (Cic., Tusc., 4, 17, 37).
span v.
*palma metiri aliquid: *palma amplecti aliquid (to span round it).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for span?
- The usual Latin words for “span” are palmus, spithama, dōdrāns; also palmāris, dōdrantālis. 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.