English → Latin
“suffocate” in Latin
spīritusair, breath, breathing; light breeze; spirit, ghostsuffōcōto choke, stifle, strangle, suffocate, drown
The English word suffocate itself goes back to Latin suffōcō, through suffōcātus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
suffocate
suffocare aliquem (Cic.): intercludere alicui animam, spiritum (Liv.). To be suffocated, suffocari (Cic.); intercluditur mihi anima or spiritus; intercluso spiritu exstingui (Curt.). Suffocare and suffocari also figuratively.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for suffocate?
- The usual Latin words for “suffocate” are spīritus, suffōcō. 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.