95 Cool Latin Words and Their Meanings

Ana Hernandez • May 8, 2024 • 3 min read
Latin Words
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Latin is a fascinating language with many beautiful and profound words. While it may not be as widely spoken as it was centuries ago, Latin continues to impact the way we speak today.

Here are 95 cool Latin words along with their meanings. Break them out any time you want to sound a little classier, and show your friends that Latin is anything but a dead language. You may even recognize how a few have survived and shaped modern English.

35 Cool Latin Words

  • Amicitia - friendship.

  • Bellum - war.

  • Civitas - citizenship or state.

  • Decorum - propriety or decorum.

  • Exemplum - example.

  • Fatum - fate or destiny.

  • Gratia - grace or favor.

  • Honor - honor.

  • Imperium - power or command.

  • Justitia - justice.

  • Lex - law.

  • Mens - mind.

  • Nomen - name.

  • Oratio - speech.

  • Pax - peace.

  • Quies - rest or quiet.

  • Ratio - reason or method.

  • Scientia - knowledge.

  • Tempus - time.

  • Umbra - shadow.

  • Veritas - truth.

  • Vox - voice.

  • Ultima - last or final.

  • Virtus - virtue.

  • Vis - force or power.

  • Aequitas - equity or fairness.

  • Bona Fide - in good faith.

  • Credo - creed or belief.

  • Dignitas - dignity.

  • Errata - errors or mistakes.

  • Facsimile - an exact copy.

  • Gloria - glory.

  • Inferno - hell.

  • Magnus - great or large.

  • Numen - divine power.

30 Beautiful Latin Words

  • Aether - the upper sky, pure air.

  • Clementia - mercy or clemency.

  • Diligo - to esteem highly, to love.

  • Fidelis - faithful, loyal.

  • Gaudeo - to rejoice, be glad.

  • Humanitas - humanity, culture, refinement.

  • Ingenium - nature, innate talent.

  • Jubilo - to shout for joy.

  • Liberatio - liberation, release.

  • Mirabilia - wonders, marvels.

  • Nocturnus - of the night, nocturnal.

  • Osculum - kiss.

  • Pulchritudo - beauty.

  • Querencia - a place where one feels safe, a place from which one's strength of character is drawn.

  • Redamatio - act of loving in return.

  • Salubritas - health, wholesomeness.

  • Tranquillitas - tranquility, calm.

  • Urbane - polished, suave.

  • Veneratio - reverence, awe.

  • Voluptas - pleasure, delight.

  • Accendo - to kindle, illuminate, inflame.

  • Beatus - blessed, happy.

  • Caelitus - from heaven.

  • Dulcedo - sweetness, charm.

  • Effloresco - to blossom, bloom.

  • Felicitas - happiness, good fortune.

  • Glorificus - glorious.

  • Hospes - guest, host.

  • Immarcescibilis - unfading.

  • Luminarium - a collection of light or windows.

30 Latin Words for Nature

  • Natura - nature.

  • Terra - earth or land.

  • Aqua - water.

  • Ventus - wind.

  • Flumen - river.

  • Mare - sea.

  • Silva - forest.

  • Mons - mountain.

  • Lacus - lake.

  • Ignis - fire.

  • Caelum - sky.

  • Sol - sun.

  • Luna - moon.

  • Stella - star.

  • Fulmen - lightning.

  • Nix - snow.

  • Glacies - ice.

  • Petra - rock or stone.

  • Arbor - tree.

  • Herba - grass or herb.

  • Flos - flower.

  • Folium - leaf.

  • Ramus - branch.

  • Radix - root.

  • Animal - animal.

  • Aves - birds.

  • Piscis - fish.

  • Aestas - summer.

  • Autumnus - autumn.

  • Ver - spring.

These words and phrases not only reflect the beauty and philosophical depth of the Latin language but also demonstrate its profound influence on many modern languages, especially in the realms of science, law, and literature.