English → Latin
“wages” in Latin
mercēspay, wages, reward; revenue, income; chastisement, punishment, penaltymanū̆pretiumpay, wages; reward; workmanshipoperawork, pains, exertion, effort, labour; service, rendering of a service; one's fault, agency, doingpretiumworth, price, value, cost; pay, hire, wage; rewardpoenapenalty, punishment; hardship, torment; executionsuppliciumkneeling, supplication, a humble entreaty or petition; punishment; sufferingtribuōto grant, bestow, assign, attribute; to yield, give up, concede, allow; to divide, share, distributepersolvōto release or discharge; to pay, pay out or render; to perform, accomplish, fulfill an obligation or taskdignusappropriate, fitting, worthy, meet, deserving, fit, proper, suitable, becoming; worthy of
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
wages
PROP., merces, -edis (of a laborer): nanus pretium: manupretium: pretium laboris or operae. To pay wages, mercedem alicui dare, tribuere, persolvere; pretium operae alicui solvere: to receive wages, mercedem accipere ab aliquo: good wages, merces magna (Cic.), digna (Col.): poor, low wages, merces iniqua (Cic.): fair wages, aequa laboris merces (Cic.): to fix the rate of wages mercedem alicujus rei constituere (Cic.): to offer high wages, magnam mercedem alicui proponere (Cic.): to ask for wages, mercedem alicujus rei poscere; laboris mercedem petere: to serve for wages, operas suas locare alicui (Plin., Ep., 10, 55, 1).
Figuratively, merces (Liv.); pretium (Terentianus): (in a bad sense) poena, supplicium (Cic.).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for wages?
- The usual Latin words for “wages” are mercēs, manū̆pretium, opera; also pretium, poena, supplicium. 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.