English → Latin
“sudden” in Latin
subeōto go under, come under; enter; to come or go up to, approach, draw near, advance or proceed to a place; come or go on; repēnssudden, unexpected; recent, freshrepentīnussudden, hasty; unexpectedimprōvīsusunforeseen, unexpected; suddeninopīnātusunexpected, unsupposedinexspectātusunexpected
The English word sudden itself goes back to Latin eō, through subitāneus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
sudden
subitus (opposed to ante provisus, of the manner in which a thing comes upon or appears to us): repens or repentinus (opposed to exspectatus, meditatus et praeparatus of the manner in which a thing happens): non ante provisus, improvisus (unforeseen): nec opinatus, inopinatus (unexpected, nearly in the sense of subitus): inexspectatus: non exspectatus (nearly in the sense of repentinus). We often find (The words are found in this connection and order.) subitus et repentinus; subitus atque improvisus; subitus inopinatusque; repentinus et necopinatus; inexspectatus et repentinus; improvisus atque inopinatus. A sudden storm, tempestas subita; tempestas improviso conciliata (i. e., which takes one by surprise); tempestas repentina (i. e., which arises hastily; figuratively in Cic., Sext., 67, 140): a sudden arrival, adventus necopinatus: to die a sudden death, repentina morte perire, or repentino mori (i. e., sudden, with respect to the person who dies: ☞ subita morte perire, or subito mori, would mean “to be carried off unexpectedly, as far as one’s friends or relatives are concerned”).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for sudden?
- The usual Latin words for “sudden” are subeō, repēns, repentīnus; also imprōvīsus, inopīnātus, inexspectātus. 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.