English → Latin
“sting” in Latin
aculeussting, stinger (of an insect); sting (metaphorical); spine, thornspīnathorn; thorny tree or shrub; thorn; spine; pricklemordeōto bite (into); nibble, gnaw; to nip, sting; to eat, consume, devour, erodeictusa beating time, a beat; a beat of the pulse; an attack, shotcruciōto crucify; to torturequīnquefive; 5pungōto prick; to puncture; to stingcompungōto prick or puncture; to goad or stimulate; to tattoo (mark with points)feriōto hit, to strike, to smite, to beat, to knock, injure; to cut, to thrust; to kill by striking, to slay, to give a deathūrōto burn, consume, inflame; especially of the emotions: to inflame with passion, love or lust; burn, set afire or on fire
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
sting s.
PROP., aculeus (of insects): aculeus; spina (of plants). Wound from a sting, ictus.
Figuratively, aculeus: morsus. The stings of conscience, conscientiae stimulus; animi morsus; conscientiae angor et sollicitudo, cruciatus (Cic.).
sting
v: pungere; compungere (general term for pricking or causing a pricking pain): ferire (to strike): mordere (of a biting pain; e.g., of a nettle): urere (of a burning, smarting sting; e.g., as that of a nettle, etc.). To be stung by a serpent, a serpente pungi or feriri (Plin.); by a nettle, urticae aculeis compungi: the stinging leaves of a nettle, urticae folia mordentia.
ImPROP., mordere (e.g., valde me momorderunt epistolae tuae); conscientia mordere (Cic.); pungere or stimulare ac pungere.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for sting?
- The usual Latin words for “sting” are aculeus, spīna, mordeō; also ictus, cruciō, quīnque. 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.