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Latin

/ˈlætn/
/ˈlætɪn/
IPA guide

Other forms: Latins; Latinly

Latin is the language that was spoken by the ancient Romans. We also have Latin to thank for a huge number of our English vocabulary words!

Sometimes people refer to Latin as a "dead language," because people stopped speaking it near the end of the Roman Empire. Latin never really "died," though; it evolved into new languages, including French and Spanish. In addition to these direct descendants, English and other languages borrowed many Latin words. It's also still spoken in some church services, and it's the official language of Vatican City. The word comes from a Roman region, Latium.

Definitions of Latin
  1. noun
    any dialect of the language of ancient Rome
    see moresee less
    types:
    Old Latin
    the oldest recorded Latin (dating back at early as the 6th century B.C.)
    classical Latin
    the language of educated people in ancient Rome
    Low Latin
    any dialect of Latin other than the classical
    Biblical Latin, Late Latin
    the form of Latin written between the 3rd and 8th centuries
    Neo-Latin, New Latin
    Latin since the Renaissance; used for scientific nomenclature
    Latinian language, Romance, Romance language
    the group of languages derived from Latin
    Haitian Creole
    a creole language spoken by most Haitians; based on French and various African languages
    Vulgar Latin
    nonclassical Latin dialects spoken in the Roman Empire; source of Romance languages
    Medieval Latin
    Latin used for liturgical purposes during the Middle Ages
    Italian
    the Romance language spoken in Italy
    French
    the Romance language spoken in France and in countries colonized by France
    Portuguese
    the Romance language spoken in Portugal and Brazil
    Galician
    a language spoken in Galicia in northwestern Spain; it is between Portuguese and Spanish but closer to Portuguese; sometimes considered a Portuguese or Spanish dialect
    Spanish
    the Romance language spoken in most of Spain and the countries colonized by Spain
    Catalan
    the Romance language spoken in Catalonia in eastern Spain (related to Spanish and Occitan)
    Rhaeto-Romance, Rhaeto-Romanic
    Romance dialects spoken in parts of southeastern Switzerland and northern Italy and the Tyrol
    Romanian, Rumanian
    an eastern Romance language spoken in Romania
    type of:
    Italic, Italic language
    a branch of the Indo-European languages of which Latin is the chief representative
  2. noun
    an inhabitant of ancient Latium
    see moresee less
    type of:
    denizen, dweller, habitant, indweller, inhabitant
    a person who inhabits a particular place
  3. adjective
    of or relating to the ancient Latins or the Latin language
    Latin verb conjugations”
  4. adjective
    of or relating to the ancient region of Latium
    Latin towns”
  5. adjective
    relating to languages derived from Latin
    synonyms: Romance
  6. adjective
    relating to people or countries speaking Romance languages
    Latin America”
  7. noun
    a person who is a member of those peoples whose languages derived from Latin
Pronunciation
US
/ˈlætn/
UK
/ˈlætɪn/
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