English → Latin
“urge” in Latin
urgeōto press, push, force, drive, urge (forward); to stimulate; to weigh down, burden, oppress; to crowd, hem in, confineīnstōto stand upon, set foot on; to be nearby, close to, be imminent; to assail, press upon, harassPōlliōA Roman cognomen — famously held by
The English word urge itself goes back to Latin urgeō.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
urge
urgere (to press in a vehement, urgent manner, as a powerful warrior presses upon an enemy; IMPROP., of pressing in argument, urgere aliquem, or, absolutely, urgerent praeterea philosophorum greges... instaret Academia, Cic.; feci summa lenitate, quae feci; ilium neque ursi, neque, etc., Cic. In the sense “to urge anybody to do anything,” it is very rare. Lepidus ursit me et suis et Antonii litteris, ut legionem tricesimam mitterem sibi, Asin. Pollio, ap. Cic., Fam., 10, 32, 4): instare (to be ever, as it were, close upon anybody, to press him, etc.; alicui, often absolutely; also, instare de aliquo or de aliqua re. Followed by infinitive, instat poscere recuperatores, Cic.; by ut, ne [not in Cic.], ut, Quint., ne, Plaut.). (The words are found in this connection and order.) urgere, instare (Cic.): summe contendere ab aliquo (Cic., to demand anything of anybody vehemently; ut, ne): acerrime suadere alicui (ut or ne; to advise in the strongest terms; cum acerrime Lepido suasisset, ne se cum Antonio jungeret, Velleius, 2, 63, 2). To urge the plea of bad health, excusare valetudinem (Liv.); of poverty, excusare inopiam (Caes.): ☞ causari aliquid (Augustan poets and post-Augustan, prose). To urge anything (= advise), suadere aliquid: hortari aliquid (e.g., to urge the necessity of peace, pacem suadere, hortari; both Cic.). Vid: To PRESS = to urge, and to try earnestly to persuade.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for urge?
- The usual Latin words for “urge” are urgeō, īnstō, Pōlliō. 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.