an Italic language spoken in ancient Rome and used as the official language of the Roman Empire. L
one of the forms of literary Latin, as Medieval Latin, Late Latin, Biblical Latin, or Liturgical Latin, or of nonclassical Latin, as Vulgar Latin.
a native or inhabitant of Latium; an ancient Roman.
Rare. a member of any of the Latin peoples, or those speaking chiefly Romance languages, especially a native of or émigré from Latin America.
Rare. a member of the Latin Church; a Roman Catholic, as distinguished from a member of the Greek Church.
denoting or pertaining to those peoples, as the Italians, French, Spanish, Portuguese, etc., using languages derived from Latin, especially the peoples of Central and South America: Latin dance is one of his hobbies.
Her landlord is Latin.
Latin dance is one of his hobbies.
of or relating to the Latin Church.
of or relating to Latium, its inhabitants, or their language.
of or relating to the Latin alphabet.
the language of ancient Rome and the Roman Empire and of the educated in medieval Europe, which achieved its classical form during the 1st century bc. Having originally been the language of Latium, belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European family, it later formed the basis of the Romance group See Late Latin Low Latin Medieval Latin New Latin Old Latin See also Romance
a member of any of those peoples whose languages are derived from Latin
an inhabitant of ancient Latium
of or relating to the Latin language, the ancient Latins, or Latium
characteristic of or relating to those peoples in Europe and Latin America whose languages are derived from Latin
of or relating to the Roman Catholic Church
denoting or relating to the Roman alphabet
The unusually constructed word Latin@ is more commonly used in writing than in speech, probably because the final character poses a pronunciation challenge. Most speakers don't assign “@” a sound at all, often pronouncing Latin@ by running the two intended forms together, as “Latino-Latina.” Others have postulated that the final vowel might rhyme with “cow,” as , splitting the @ into “a” and “o.” However, research has shown this to be quite rare.
The modern Romance languages — French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and a few others — are all derived from Latin.
During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Latin was the universal language of learning. Even in modern English, many scholarly, technical, and legal terms, such as per se and habeas corpus, retain their Latin form.
First recorded in 1995–2000; from the superficial resemblance of @ as a combination of a and o; see Latinx ( def. )
First recorded before 950; Middle English, Old English from Latin Latīnus; see Latium, -ine 1
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Bambi Salcedo, president of the Trans Latin@ Coalition, said the report reflects the “realities” of transgender individuals both in L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2025
The 25-percent Brazil tariff followed a year-long US investigation, with Washington accusing the Latin American giant of unfair trade practices.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
Ants are eaten, sometimes even valued as a delicacy, in several Asian, African and Latin American cultures.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Vélez was previously a partner at Sequoia Capital, where he focused on investing in Latin America, and earlier worked at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Hiddleston was actually on a set in Atlanta, but there he was speaking Latin and revisiting his own past.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Jake and Kojo boarded the first bus, where Jake helped a kid coming home from school conjugate a Latin verb.
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein
“The Etruscans look indistinguishable from Latins, and they also carry a high proportion of steppe ancestry,” Posth says.
From Science Magazine ● Sep. 23, 2021
The Joker gives Cesar Romero a role far removed from the suave Latins he has generally played in films.
From Slate ● Aug. 31, 2019
Cubans were among the most literate Latins and had a vibrant civic life with private professional, commercial, religious and charitable organizations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 26, 2016
They were the Latins, the Greeks, and the Etruscans.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2012
But the Latins said the Cornucopia was the horn of Achelous which Hercules broke off when he conquered that river-god, who had taken the form of a bull to fight him.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
