Latin
Noun pluralLatins (some meanings)
PluralLatins (some meanings)
- 1The language of ancient Rome, still used in parts of the Roman Catholic Church.
She studied Latin for four years in school.
Many legal phrases still come from Latin.
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- 2
- 3Relating to the language spoken in ancient Rome.
She studied Latin grammar for the exam.
The book explained several Latin word endings.
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- 4Music from Latin America, or a group of dances like the samba, cha-cha, rumba, paso doble, and jive done in dance contests.
The radio station plays Latin every Saturday night.
My sister and her partner won first prize in Latin at the dance contest.
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- 5Someone from Latin America, or from another country whose main language comes from Latin.
In the use of patent medicine the average Latin resembles the American of fifty years ago, who generally had a bottle of some concoction on which he depended whenever he felt out of sorts.
1922, William Edmund Aughinbaugh, Advertising for trade in Latin-America - 6
- 7The set of letters used to write English and many other languages.
In Serbia, you can see street signs written in Cyrillic and in Latin.
Some languages switched to Latin from older alphabets.
- 8Relating to the letters used to write Roman and many modern languages.
English is written with the Latin alphabet.
Pinyin uses Latin letters to show Chinese sounds.
SimilarRoman
Less common meanings
- 9
- 10Having to do with ancient Rome and the lands it ruled.
Latin culture spread to many of the lands that Rome ruled.
After the Romans came, Latin culture slowly spread through the region.
SimilarRoman
- 11
- 12A member of an ancient tribe that lived around Rome and founded the early city.
The early Latins farmed the land where Rome would later rise.
Long ago, the Latins lived in small villages near the Tiber River.
SimilarLatian
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- 13Relating to Latium, the area around Rome now called Lazio.
The Latin plains were fertile farmland in antiquity.
Several Latin villages dotted the hills near Rome.
SimilarLatian
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- 14Fake placeholder words used to fill a design before the real text is ready.
Like writing 'blah blah blah' to fill a space until you have the real words.
The template was full of Latin where the real words should go.
We left some Latin in the mockup to show the layout.
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Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
It comes from Latin latīnus, made from Latium, the region around Rome, plus an adjective ending. English took it through Old French.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
- English Latin ultimately derives from Latin latīnus. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin latīnus was formed from Latium plus a suffix. en.wiktionary.org
- Latium is the region around Rome. en.wiktionary.org
- The ending used to form latīnus is an adjective suffix. en.wiktionary.org
- Old French was an intermediary in the English word's derivation. en.wiktionary.org
It comes from Old English Latin and Old French latin, both going back to Latin Latinus, meaning belonging to Latium.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Old French latin contributed to English Latin. en.wiktionary.org
- Old English Lǣden ultimately derives from Latin Latinus. en.wiktionary.org
- Old French latin derives from Latin Latinus. en.wiktionary.org
- Latinus means belonging to Latium. en.wiktionary.org