English → Latin
“summary” in Latin
brevisshort, small, little, narrow; brief, short; short, low, shallowangustusnarrow, close, contracted, constricted, confined, small, not spacious; narrow, strait; short, briefconcidōto fall down or together, tumble to the ground, collapse, break down, drop; to fall down lifeless in combat, to be slaugastringōto draw close, bind or tie together; tighten, contract; to check, repress, restrain; to put under obligation, oblige, nepremōto press, push, press close or hard, oppress, overwhelm; to tighten, compress, shorten, press closely, squeeze; to make,summatop, summit, highest point or place; the principal or main thing; sum, summary, totalepitomēepitome; abridgement; synopsissummāriumsummary; epitome; abstractbreviāriumbrief; report (short piece of writing)
The English word summary itself goes back to Latin summa, through summārium.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
summary adj.
brevis: angustus: concisus: astrictus: pressus. (The words are found in this connection and order.) contractus et astrictus. [SYN. in SHORT.] A sort narration, narratio brevis: to be summary (of a speaker), brevem (opposed to longum) esse; brevitatem adhibere in aliqua re; brevitati servire: to take a very summary view of a subject, perquam breviter perstringere aliquid atque attingere.
summary s.
summa: epitome: summarium: breviarium (the latter word common in Sen.’s time, Sen., Ep., 39; the former in earlier use).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for summary?
- The usual Latin words for “summary” are brevis, angustus, concidō; also astringō, premō, summa. 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.