What is the Latin word for tarnish?

The usual Latin words for “tarnish” are hebetō, obscūrō, obruō; also splendor, hebēscō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“tarnish” in Latin

hebetōto make something blunt, dull, dim; to dull, blunt, make stupid; to weaken, deaden obscūrōto darken, obscure; to conceal, hide; to blind, becloud understanding obruōto overwhelm or overthrow, overpower; to bury; to conceal splendorsheen, brightness, brilliance, luster, splendor; renown, fame hebēscōto become blunt or dull; to become blunt, dull, dim, faint, ineffective

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

tarnish

Transitively, rem obscurare; praestringere nitorem rei; hebetare, praestringere aliquid (PROP.; speculorum fulgor hebetatur, is tarnished); obscurare, obruere (figuratively); then, also, decori officere (Liv., 1, 53, to tarnish one’s reputation).

Intransitively, obscurari; splendorem, candorem amittere (Cic.); also, hebescere (Tac.).

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for tarnish?: The usual Latin words for “tarnish” are hebetō, obscūrō, obruō; also splendor, hebēscō. 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.