What is the Latin word for waste?

The usual Latin words for “waste” are cōnsūmō, absūmō, cōnficiō; also hauriō, effundō, dissipō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“waste” in Latin

cōnsūmōto take wholly or completely; to consume, devour, waste, squander, use up; annihilate, destroy, bring to naught; to kill absūmōto diminish, take away, use up, consume, exhaust; to ruin, destroy, annihilate, corrupt; to kill cōnficiōto prepare, accomplish, complete, execute; settle, close a bargain; traverse; to produce, cause, bring about, effect, se hauriōto draw (especially water), drain; to drain, drink up, swallow; to take in with the senses as if to drink or swallow effundōto pour out, shed, spread abroad, drain off; to pour, drive, cast or send out, shower, discharge; to give oneself up to,dissipōto scatter, disperse, spread abroad; to dissipate or squander; to demolish, overthrow, destroy, ruin lacerōto rend, tear to pieces; to mutilate, lacerate; to mangle perdōto destroy, ruin, wreck; to waste, squander; to have no more, to be deprived of tābēscōto gradually melt or dissolve; to dwindle away, waste away contābēscōto waste slowly away; to be consumed

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

waste v.

Transitively. To consume, destroy, consumere: absumere: conficere (e.g., of care, etc.). (The words are found in this connection and order.) conficere et consumere: haurire (of fire; of which consumere, absumere, are also used). Anybody is wasted by grief, aegritudo exest alicujus animum: to be wasted by grief, maerore consumi: to waste one’s energies, strength, etc., vires consumere: time wastes all things, nihil est quod non conficiat vetustas: to waste itself, se conficere; tabescere: wasting, tabificus (e.g., perturbationes, morbus); omnia hauriens (of fire).

To lavish (e.g., PROP.), effundere, conficere. (The words are found in this connection and order.) effundere et consumere: dissipare: obligurire: lacerare (e.g., patrimonium, patria bona): perdere (e.g., tempus; or tempore abuti).

To devastate, Vid:

Intransitively, se conficere: tabescere: contabescere (to waste away gradually; of persons; e.g., morbo, desiderio).

waste adj.

Desolate, Vid:

Devastated, by the past participle of verbs in To DEVASTATE. To lay waste, vastare; devastare; pervastare; populari; depopulari; perpopulari [SYN. in To DEVASTATE]: to lay waste by fire and sword, ferro ignique or igni ferroque vastare; ferro flammisque pervastare.

Uncultivated, incultus (opposed to cultus or consitus): vastus (not planted with trees or built upon; opposed to consitus, coaedificatus). To stand or lie waste, vacare (of places or districts of a country, etc.; Vid: also, UNCULTIVATED).

Stripped, [Vid: DEPRIVED].

Worthless, useless, parvi pretii (of little value): tenuis (slight, trifling): levis (without intrinsic value, slight; facete levidensis; Vid: also, SLIGHT).

Waste-book, adversaria, -orum, neuter (of merchants, Cic., Rosc. Com., 2, 5): manuale (ap. Martialis, 14, 84, a book of notices): epitome (ἐπιτομή = summarium: liber in angustum coactus): enchiridion (ἐγχειρίδιον, a hand-book, Pomponius, Dig. 1, 2, 2).

Waste lands, loca deserta or inculta; campi inculti (poetical): also, deserta et inhospita tesqua (Hor., Ep., 1, 14, 19): loca exusta solis ardoribus (parched up by the sun): also, regio deserta: loca deserta, or simply deserta, -orum, neuter (uninhabited from sterility, etc.): also to be formed by vastus ab natura et humano cultu (entirely waste, Sall., Jug., 48, 2).

Waste-paper, chartae ineptae (Hor., Ep., 2, 1, 270). To be used for waste-paper, inter chartas ineptas referri: to write verses fit only for waste-paper, *scribere carmina quae inter chartas ineptas referri debent: a sheet of waste-paper, charta inepta (Hor., Ep., 2, 1, 270).

Waste-wood, scobis or scobs (fragments of boring, filing, rasping, sawing, etc.): recisamentum (from carving, etc.).

waste s.

Destruction, Vid:

Desolate tract of land [Vid: “WASTE lands,” DESERT]. Encroachment on a waste, building erected on a waste, proaedificatum (= “quod in publicum solum processit,” Festus).

Useless expenditure, sumtus effusi or profusi: profusa luxuria (luxury in general): profusio (profusion, the act of spending wastefully; Vid: DISSIPATION).

Loss, damnum: detrimentum: dispendium. [SYN. in LOSS.] (The words are found in this connection and order.) damnum et detrimentum: jactura atque damnum, or jactura et detrimentum.

Fallings-off in the working of any material, ramentum (of metals, skins, etc., by filing, scraping, etc.): scobis or scobs (of wood, metals, by sawing, filing, boring, etc.): intertrimentum: retrimentum (by melting): recisamentum (by carving, chiseling, etc.).

Mischief, fraus (injury on the part of another by which we suffer): noxa (damage which anybody causes by destroying anything).

A wasting disease; Vid. CONSUMPTION, DECLINE.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for waste?: The usual Latin words for “waste” are cōnsūmō, absūmō, cōnficiō; also hauriō, effundō, dissipō. 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.