English → Latin
“why” in Latin
quamobremwhy?, for what reason?, on what account?; for this reason; thereforequārēby what means, how; from what cause, on what account, why, whereforequāpropterwhy?, wherefore?; on which account, whereforequid nīwhy wouldn't one?, what else if not?, how ... not?, i.e. naturally, of course, sure one would; why wouldn't one?, what e
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
why
cur? quamobrem? (in asking for the end): quare? (in asking for the cause or occasion): quapropter? qua de causā? quid est cur? quid est quapropter? quid est causae cur? quid est quod? (in asking for the motive): quid (denotes in general that to which the verb refers; e.g., quid rides? why do you laugh? i. e., at what do you laugh? what is the object of your laughter?): why not? cur non, with an indicative (asking the reason why a thing is not done): quidni, with a subjunctive (asking, with astonishment, how it is that another does not perceive the reason of a thing): quin, with an indicative (refers to an urgent necessity of doing something; e.g., cur non domum uxorem arcessis? quidni possim? quin quod ferendum est fers?). There is no reason (what reason is there, etc.) why I should not do this, nulla est causa (quid causae est? etc.), quin hoc faciam: why can’t they? etc., quid est causae, quin... possint (e.g., coloniam deducere)?
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for why?
- The usual Latin words for “why” are quamobrem, quārē, quāpropter; also quid nī. 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.